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Friday, October 13, 2023
Actors Strike Talks Suspended; Studios Say Guild Rejected WGA Terms
Deadline: After less than two weeks, the latest negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the studios and streamers have broken down and been “suspended,” according to the AMPTP on Wednesday.
The actors' guild didn’t succeed with its bargaining. I think this is a really bad move on the part of the executives. They can’t produce shows with just designers, they also need actors to bring their visions to live. The role of the designer is to serve the implementation of the actors. I think the studio executives are trying to hold out as long as possible to give themselves the greatest opportunity to bargain, as well as giving them demoralizing offers in the meantime. Union bargaining, made clear by recent issues, most notably the writers strike, is a very delicate process that seems to involve a lot of manipulation on the part of the executives. I don’t think squeezing out every last drop of value from an actor is the way to get them to give the most impactful performance. The way to help them creatively, I would argue, is to pay them fairly, which should result in more emotional connection with the audience, causing them to rewatch things again and again. It seems to be a bad business move on their part.
Even if the profit sharing does turn out to be around 2% (which is, according to SAG-AFTRA, a 60% overestimation), it’s crazy that studios are not willing to give up some profit to actually support the actors they are employing. How can you expect actors to do a good job, when they are struggling to make any money with the proliferation of streaming and the change to revenue that it has brought along. To me, it’s insane to ask so much from actors and writers, and then not fairly compensate them. Honestly, it's just kinda inane. Also the way the AMPTP tries to spread mistruths to union members makes it so transparent that all they care about is their own profit over anything else. Like I said in other posts, I think it’ll be a good change for the industry in the long run, with everyone below the line inheriting a better working condition.
I just recently read an article about how the negotiations were going well with SAG AFTRA and the AMPTP and how no one had left the table yet which was a really good sign. I didn’t expect to read an article the next day about how the AMPTP left the table and pretended that $800 million even makes a dent in their annual revenue. Also, something that I noticed for the first time in this article is that Ronald Reagan, arguably the most anti-union president ever, the one who entirely changed America’s opinion of Unions from being almost universally liked to struggling to have the support of the average workers who benefit most from unions, used to be the head of the Actors Union SAG AFTRA. This is probably common knowledge to a lot of people but I was absolutely blown away by this fact and will be reading more on it as I am very confused how that happened.
I am disappointed that the SAG-AFTRA strike is still going on, especially with my knowledge on how it affects our industry of designers. While AMPTP’s current press release does show that some compromises have been beyond in terms of AI and contract pay, the silence regarding streaming services is beyond disheartening. I share the same opinion as SAG-AFTRA negotiators; as long as studios are profiting from streaming services, contracted creatives must be profiting as well. While at first I thought the opinion of SAG seemed a bit extreme, I now understand it. I realized why the streaming royalties needed to be met after I considered all of the 20 plus year old films that go viral on streaming services and blow up again. Currently, the profits skyrocket and the actors are left with very little. My sentiment that as long as a studio is profiting off your art, you must be profiting as well. I really hope that this fresh wave of negotiations is speedy, I want actors to get back to what they love doing fairly!
4 comments:
The actors' guild didn’t succeed with its bargaining. I think this is a really bad move on the part of the executives. They can’t produce shows with just designers, they also need actors to bring their visions to live. The role of the designer is to serve the implementation of the actors. I think the studio executives are trying to hold out as long as possible to give themselves the greatest opportunity to bargain, as well as giving them demoralizing offers in the meantime. Union bargaining, made clear by recent issues, most notably the writers strike, is a very delicate process that seems to involve a lot of manipulation on the part of the executives. I don’t think squeezing out every last drop of value from an actor is the way to get them to give the most impactful performance. The way to help them creatively, I would argue, is to pay them fairly, which should result in more emotional connection with the audience, causing them to rewatch things again and again. It seems to be a bad business move on their part.
Even if the profit sharing does turn out to be around 2% (which is, according to SAG-AFTRA, a 60% overestimation), it’s crazy that studios are not willing to give up some profit to actually support the actors they are employing. How can you expect actors to do a good job, when they are struggling to make any money with the proliferation of streaming and the change to revenue that it has brought along. To me, it’s insane to ask so much from actors and writers, and then not fairly compensate them. Honestly, it's just kinda inane. Also the way the AMPTP tries to spread mistruths to union members makes it so transparent that all they care about is their own profit over anything else. Like I said in other posts, I think it’ll be a good change for the industry in the long run, with everyone below the line inheriting a better working condition.
I just recently read an article about how the negotiations were going well with SAG AFTRA and the AMPTP and how no one had left the table yet which was a really good sign. I didn’t expect to read an article the next day about how the AMPTP left the table and pretended that $800 million even makes a dent in their annual revenue. Also, something that I noticed for the first time in this article is that Ronald Reagan, arguably the most anti-union president ever, the one who entirely changed America’s opinion of Unions from being almost universally liked to struggling to have the support of the average workers who benefit most from unions, used to be the head of the Actors Union SAG AFTRA. This is probably common knowledge to a lot of people but I was absolutely blown away by this fact and will be reading more on it as I am very confused how that happened.
I am disappointed that the SAG-AFTRA strike is still going on, especially with my knowledge on how it affects our industry of designers. While AMPTP’s current press release does show that some compromises have been beyond in terms of AI and contract pay, the silence regarding streaming services is beyond disheartening. I share the same opinion as SAG-AFTRA negotiators; as long as studios are profiting from streaming services, contracted creatives must be profiting as well. While at first I thought the opinion of SAG seemed a bit extreme, I now understand it. I realized why the streaming royalties needed to be met after I considered all of the 20 plus year old films that go viral on streaming services and blow up again. Currently, the profits skyrocket and the actors are left with very little. My sentiment that as long as a studio is profiting off your art, you must be profiting as well. I really hope that this fresh wave of negotiations is speedy, I want actors to get back to what they love doing fairly!
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