Elaine Low has been covering the work stoppage via StrikeGeist, a newsletter for The Ankler. Since the start of the strike, she’s been reporting from picket lines all across Los Angeles.
As of Monday, folks are still trying to read the tea leaves in SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland’s cheery video message to its actor membership over the weekend, and whether it means the guild is likely to strike or agree to a new TV/theatrical/streaming contract with the AMPTP.
A new report from Variety’s Gene Maddaus and Cynthia Littleton points to sources who say both the actors union and major studios are “far apart on a range of issues,” in particular SAG’s desire for viewership-based streaming residuals (also one of the WGA’s demands). There’s reportedly friction over what constitutes an agreed-upon metric to rely on, pointing to perhaps one of the greatest issues of the streaming economy that is the root of so many issues: data transparency.
SAG-AFTRA has proposed using data from Parrot Analytics as the benchmark. Founded a decade ago, the research firm uses a mix of data sources — including search queries, fan sites, social media engagement and downloads — to estimate the global popularity of shows.
But the studios have been unwilling to peg compensation to third-party estimates, which might not be entirely reliable and could be subject to unannounced changes in the algorithm or to gaming. For instance, actors might be able to profit from driving social media engagement that does not translate to subscriptions or even to viewership.
As we’ve known all along, what SAG-AFTRA does will have a significant influence on the strike. If they walk out, that should shorten the strike by forcing the companies to get serious in their negotiations. If they approve a deal … well, as always, it will be up to the WGA to fight the good fight in seeking demonstrably meaningful changes.
To read the rest of the StrikeGeist article and see some actual pole-dancing on the strike line, go here.
For the latest updates on the strike and news resources, go here.
All Eyes on Actors as SAG-AFTRA Deal Deadline Looms was originally published in Go Into The Story on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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Author: Scott Myers
