Discussions with actors and producers union to continue this week, as WGA talks loom
US actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood studios have extended talks for an additional week as the two sides look to strike a new employment agreement.
Discussions started on 9 February and had been due to run until 6 March but a joint statement from the actors union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said they had agreed to extend negotiations.
Talks will continue into the week of 9 March, the organisations said, adding that details of the discussions would “remain under a mutually agreed upon media blackout.”
The AMPTP’s members include Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros. Discovery will have one week to strike a deal with SAG-AFTRA, before talks are due to start with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on 16 March.
Discussions with the Directors Guild of America (DGA) have been slated to begin 11 May.
If a SAG-AFTRA deal is not agreed in the coming week, talks are expected to resume after the WGA and DGA discussions are wrapped. The current WGA deal comes to an end on 1 May, whereas the DGA and SAG-AFTRA pacts are in place until 30 June.
The talks come just weeks after two of the AMPTP’s biggest members - Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery - agreed a deal to combine their operations.
Both the US and global industries will be keen to avoid strike action: in 2023, SAG-AFTRA members had a work stoppage of 118 days while WGA were picketing for 148 days, with the delays in coming to an agreement causing widespread disruption.
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