No meeting today as SAG-AFTRA reviews studio proposal

Negotiations scheduled for Wednesday between SAG-AFTRA and the studios aren’t all done yet — and everyone’s happy about that.

“It’s a step in the right direction and the negotiating committee is taking the time to conduct an in-depth review,” a union source close to the talks told Deadline this evening, noting that it is only a one-day pause.

Although the actors’ union said Tuesday night that “conversations with them are scheduled to continue tomorrow,” that changed this morning when SAG-AFTRA leadership reached out to AMPTP to request a change in those plans. As relayed to the studio side, union bosses felt they needed more time to consider the latest proposals presented by Gang of Four CEO and AMPTP President Carole Lombardini on Tuesday to union president Fran Drescher, chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and their team.

Somewhat surprised at first by the union’s request, the studio heads appear to have appreciated the interest and responded favorably to the brief hiatus.

“There’s no drama in this,” a person close to the talks told Deadline this afternoon. Another well-placed source said: “Don’t read any further than it is now – it’s time to review, look at the numbers, look at the meter.” “This happens all the time in these types of negotiations. It shows that people are serious, and that is a good thing.”

Back on Tuesday for a second round of renewed deliberations in the strike that has now lasted 104 days, CEOs put an offer on the table they hoped would break the deadlock over the union’s revenue-sharing request. Focusing on increasing rewards based on the success of streaming shows and movies and increasing minimum prices, he saw Disney’s Bob Iger, NBC’s Donna Langley of Warner Bros. Discovery, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, as well as… Lombardini, said their proposal was a path to closing a new three-year deal with the union.

SAG-AFTRA negotiators didn’t quite welcome the new proposals as warmly as studio bosses thought, with more than one insider saying they “failed” in the room.

Meanwhile, others warn that this is part of the process and the nature of mature negotiations

For now, the SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP negotiating committee, rejoined by Iger, Sarandos, Langley and Zaslav, will meet Thursday at the union’s Wilshire Boulevard offices.

After the tough talk around the negotiating table in the latest round of bargaining that began on October 2 and some of the public statements each side made about the other after the studios abruptly halted talks on October 11, there was some raw arrogance in the room. Tuesday. In this context, studio sources considered the talks to be “not great” and “controversial”, causing many to mock the possibility of the talks collapsing again.

It was the first time in decades they had seen Iger, the author, “lose himself,” one insider said of the heat in the room. Another said: “It’s as if both sides are speaking two completely different languages.”

While the negotiations were difficult at some points, there were also a number of lighthearted moments, we hear, with Drescher specifically making the most welcomed point of raising the tone of the talks and breaking some of the tension, sources on both sides say. “Everyone wants to reach an agreement, that’s clear,” noted a person familiar with the negotiations. “Nobody thinks we’re going to clap our hands and get it done. It takes work and time.

During the previous round of talks earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA revamped its concept of compensation based on the success of streaming shows and movies from 2% of revenue to 1%, then proposed a percentage of compensation based on subscribers. On October 12, Sarandos described the union’s latest plan, which generated about 57 cents a subscriber, as a “tax” on subscribers, calling it “a bridge too far.”

However, it was not a bridge too far, to use the streaming co-CEO’s terminology, as Iger did not call Crabtree-Ireland on Saturday, 100 days ago.^y Strike day, demanding the resumption of talks.

The not-so-secret fear on both sides is that if an agreement is not reached in the next few weeks there will be continuing damage to California’s already struggling economy, which has seen $6.5 billion in losses. Including the setback caused by the WGA strike, this economic blow resulted in the loss of 45,000 jobs in the industry with production halted.

“If an agreement is not reached in the near future, it will mean a complete wipeout of the new 2024 TV season and all Q1 and Q2 films moving to the second half of the year,” an industry source said.

Since the end of the pandemic, the box office has benefited from a steady stream of productions; Any remaining gaps in the schedule are sure to impact already debt-laden exhibitors. The fall box office has currently seen roughly $440 million in losses compared to the same period in 2019 with actors unable to promote big films and pictures like United And Sand Dunes: Part Two Leave the schedule.

“We all know what the risks are,” a union source said. “Everyone does.”