SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP Extend Contract To July 12

Negotiations continue.

Via Deadline:

SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers agreed Friday to extend their current film and TV contract until July 12 to allow bargaining on a new deal to continue, both sides said this evening. The current contract had been set to expire tonight at midnight PT, after which it would have likely meant a second major Hollywood guild would be on strike against the studios.

“The agreements, which were set to expire at 11:59 p.m. PT tonight, will now expire on July 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT,” SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP said in a joint statement. “The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout. Neither organization will comment to the media about the negotiations during the extension.”

Two key points in the article:

The extension comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented grassroots campaign by guild members to urge the guild to stand strong at the bargaining table and to “join the WGA on the picket lines” if a major “realignment in our industry” can’t be achieved. Earlier this week, more than 1,700 actors, including many prominent SAG-AFTRA members, signed off on a letter to guild leaders saying they “would rather go on strike” and “join the WGA on the picket lines” than compromise on key issues [emphasis added]. The ongoing Writers Guild strike is now in its 60th day.

When the letter first went public, the number of signees was 300. Then 1000. Now 1700. Presumably, this surge of support to go on strike rather than settle for a lesser agreement is putting pressure on the negotiating committee.

With respect to AI, the guild said that “Artificial intelligence has already proven to be a real and immediate threat to the work of our members and can mimic members’ voices, likenesses and performances. We must get agreement around acceptable uses, bargain protections against misuse, and ensure consent and fair compensation for the use of your work to train AI systems and create new performances. In their public statements and policy work, the companies have not shown a desire to take our members’ basic rights to our own voices and likenesses seriously” [emphasis added].

Of all the issues, AI may be the one which has stirred up the most fear among SAG-AFTRA membership. It should. It’s an existential question for them, just like it is for writers. Of course, the companies are not taking discussions “seriously.” The potential for AI to in effect take over the film and TV development and production process is a clear path toward yet more ways to minimize the role of workers and maximize profits.

For the rest of the Deadline article, go here.

For the official SAG-AFTRA statement on extending the contract to accommodate negotiations, go here.

For the latest updates on the strike and news resources, go here.

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SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP Extend Contract To July 12 was originally published in Go Into The Story on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.