Actor’s Strike: SAG-AFTRA Releases List of Proposals and Studios’ Counterproposals
Actor’s union has released a detailed list of their proposals and the AMPTP’s counteroffers, revealing just how far off the two sides are
On July 13, Fran Drescher, star of The Nanny and president of SAG-AFTRA, outlined the actor’s union’s strike plans during a fiery speech in front of media cameras.
“I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history,” she said.
While Drescher’s speech went viral — and probably saved her own ass, given the recent uproar over her Italian weekend hobnobbing with Kim Kardashian as a strike was imminent — exactly how far apart the 160,000-strong Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) were remained a mystery. We knew bits and pieces, like how, according to SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the studios wanted the ability to scan background actors using AI, pay them a day rate, and then own their image in perpetuity.
On the evening of Monday, July 17, SAG-AFTRA released a detailed list of their proposals and AMPTP’s counterproposals, revealing just how far apart the two sides are. And they remained very far apart, as of July 13 — one day before the actor’s union went on strike.
Among SAG-AFTRA’s proposals and AMPTP’s counterproposals:
- SAG-AFTRA: An 11% general wage increase in year one to make up for record inflation, along with a 4% wage increase in year two, and a 4% wage increase in year three.
- AMPTP: A 5% general wage increase in year one; 4% in year two; 3.5% in year three.
- SAG-AFTRA: Casts share in revenue on high-performing streaming shows.
- AMPTP: Rejected.
- SAG-AFTRA: Acknowledge that performance capture should be covered by SAG-AFTRA.
- AMPTP: Rejected.
- SAG-AFTRA: Establish a “comprehensive set of provisions to protect human-created work and require informed consent or fair compensation” when AI is employed to make a “digital replica” of a performer.
- AMPTP: “Failed to address many vital concerns, leaving principal performers and background actors vulnerable to having most of their work replaced by digital replicas.”
You can see the entire outlined SAG-AFTRA proposal and the AMPTP’s counterproposals here: