SAG-AFTRA’s Fran Drescher leads the actors’ strike against Hollywood studios. Michael Locisano/Getty Images
Bitter talk broke up between them Hollywood actors and studios Late on Wednesday, the artistes’ three-month strike killed hopes of an end anytime soon.
The studios announced they had halted contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to continue, despite an offer similar to the recently concluded one. Writers strike. The actors’ union rejected the „bullying tactics” of their opponents and said they were grossly misrepresenting their privileges.
On October 2, for the first time The strike began on July 14, The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has resumed negotiations. Along with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in strike talks.
When talks with the writers resumed last month, their strike ended after five days, but no similar progress was made with the actors’ union.
The studios walked away from negotiations after seeing the cast’s latest project on Wednesday.
„It is clear that the gap between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too wide, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction,” AMPTP said in a statement.
The SAG-AFTRA proposal would cost companies $800 million a year and create „an unacceptable economic burden.”
In a letter to members early Thursday, SAG AFTRA said that number was overestimated by 60%. The union said its negotiators were „deeply disappointed” and the studios broke off negotiations.
„We have negotiated with them in good faith,” the letter said, „and last week they made an offer that was shockingly lower than what they had proposed before the strike.”
The actors are on strike over issues including increased pay for streaming programming and restrictions on the use of their images created by artificial intelligence.
AMPTP insisted its offers were as generous as the deals that ended the writers’ strike and brought a new deal to the directors’ union earlier this year.
But in a union letter to actors, the companies “refuse to protect actors from being replaced by AI, they refuse to raise your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a small portion of the enormous revenue your work generates for them. „
From the start, there was nothing like the actors’ speeches, the momentum that fueled the marathon night and weekend sessions of the writers’ strike and ended that strike. Actors and studios took several days off after the resumption, and there were no reports of meaningful progress despite the direct involvement of studio heads, including Disney and Netflix, as the writers were on strike.
However, the writers had their own false start in negotiations. A month before successful negotiations, the initial attempt to restart ended after a few days.
Members of the Writers Guild of America voted almost unanimously to ratify their new contract on Monday.
Their leaders touted their deal as achieving most of what they wanted when they went on strike nearly five months ago.
They declared the strike over and sent the writers back to work on September 26.
Late night talk shows were back on the air within a week, and other shows, including “Saturday Night Live,” would soon follow.
But due to lack of actors, production of scripted shows and movies will be suspended indefinitely.