Tuesday Talks
“As we mark the 100th day of our strike, we are pleased to confirm the company executives have asked us to return to the table. Official Negotiations will resume,” the union says
SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios will resume negotiations on Tuesday, the actors’ union announced on Saturday. The organizations’ return to the bargaining table comes nearly two weeks after studios walked away citing that “the gap” between the sides was “too great.”
“As we mark the 100th day of our strike, we are pleased to confirm the company executives have asked us to return to the table. Official Negotiations will resume,” the union wrote to its members in a post on social media. The union said that executives from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) companies would be in attendance at SAG-AFTRA Plaza on Tuesday.
Pressure has been mounting since AMPTP abandoned negotiations in a surprise move. “We were still grinding it out,” Anthony Rapp, a SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee member told Rolling Stone after the Hollywood execs walked away. “We were still ready to be there as long as it took. So I was a little surprised that they decided to walk away.” Anthony Rapp. Since the talks ceased, actors including Ethan Hawke, Sarah Paulson, Rosario Dawson, and Jessica Lange have continued to picket and have ripped on the studios. Earlier this week, strikers outside of Paramount Studios reiterated their resolve.
“It is clear that the strength and solidarity shown by our members has sent an unmistakable message to the CEOs. As we have repeatedly said, we are ready, willing and able to engage on a moment’s notice to meet and to work across the table to achieve a deal that is worthy of your sacrifice. Including this morning, just as our bi-annual SAG-AFTRA Convention is underway,” SAG-AFTRA continued in its statement shared on social media. “In the coming days there will likely be a lot of interest and potentially noise surrounding our talks. Do not believe anything you hear until it comes from us.”
Signed by the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee, their statement to members concluded with, “We are focused. We are determined. We will not waver. One day longer. One day stronger. As long as it takes.”
As Variety notes, the four execs who have been in the contract negotiation meetings with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have been Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav. It is unclear if they will be present in the upcoming talk on Tuesday.