Hollywood studios hope to end 113-day actors strike

Washington DC [US]: Hollywood’s major studios made an offer to Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) on Friday that they hope will end the 113-day actors strike, reported Variety.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had earlier warned the actors union that if a settlement was not struck by the end of this week, the networks would be forced to cancel some TV shows and more delays in 2024 summer theatre releases would occur.

The CEOs of four studios — Warner Bros Discovery, NBC Universal, Disney and Netflix — are expected to rejoin the talks, after more than weeklong absence from the bargaining table.

In an Instagram message on Friday, union president Fran Drescher said she hoped the studios’ response would “seal the deal.”

“Let’s hope the amptp ceo’s resurface with a seal the deal counter!,” she wrote.
So far, the AMPTP has not communicated to the union that its counter will be a “last, best and final” offer.

That is a term of art in labor negotiations, which is meant to indicate that the employer will make no further concessions of any significance. But given that SAG-AFTRA is already on strike, the union could simply refuse to accept it and remain on strike, reported Variety.

Though they have not used the phrase “last, best, and final,” the studios have stated that the offer given on Friday is intended to end the negotiations. SAG-AFTRA is likely to study the idea before responding.

SAG-AFTRA has said that it made a counteroffer last Saturday, and has been waiting since then for a response. The union also gave a three-hour presentation on Wednesday on its latest proposals on artificial intelligence, according to Variety.

The union has been pushing for specific elements, like AI, that it sees as “existential” for actors. The studios have complained that the actors are dreaming up more and more AI scenarios and failing to reach an agreement.

The negotiation has also featured more than a dozen other items, which are the subject of the Saturday counter from SAG-AFTRA, reported Variety.