Interim Agreements: the Latest Hot-Button Issue

Bet you didn't think we'd all be arguing over indie pacts this weekend

STRIKE LINES SAG-AFTRA and WGA members and allies picket outside of Warner Bros. on July 27. (credit: Elaine Low)

Much ado about interim agreements over the last 48 hours.

ICYMI: SAG-AFTRA allows for certain projects from non-AMPTP affiliated producers to move forward with production so long as they sign interim agreements, which include provisions about revenue sharing and other items. Some folks haven’t been happy with the arrangement. Sarah Silverman likened it to scabbing, and expressed concern about those films eventually making their way to major streaming services that are part of the AMPTP anyway. And on Saturday, Viola Davis said she would not participate in the production of upcoming film G20 despite the producers having signed such a pact.

“I love this movie, but I do not feel that it would be appropriate for this production to move forward during the strike,” she told Deadline in a statement.

SAG-AFTRA then emailed its 160,000-plus members Sunday night to clarify the details around interim agreements. “Make no mistake, we are striking the AMPTP companies only, not independent productions that abide by the terms of our Interim Agreement,” it said, touting those projects’ ability to keep members earning income and prevent entertainment companies from seeking out non-union talent.

The guild also asserted it was strategic, since those indie producers have to agree to terms that include proposals currently on the negotiating table that Hollywood’s major studios have already shut down. Today, on SAG-AFTRA’s in-house podcast, chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland explained that actors are not only not prohibited, but in fact encouraged to participate in productions that have inked interim agreements, in order to show the majors that it can be done.

“It’s encouraged because those interim agreements are under the terms that we last offered the AMPTP on our last day of bargaining,” he said. “Why that’s important is: It is an empirical, obvious example of how those terms are functional.”

What are those conditions? Most notably, if a finished film is distributed on a streaming service, the producers must pay the cast 2 percent of the project’s revenue as calculated by third-party data firm Parrot Analytics. (Here’s a full sample interim agreement if you’d like to dig into 70 pages’ worth of contractual jargon in lieu of Ambien tonight.) Entertainment Strategy Guy recently dove deep into this revenue-sharing offer, FYI.

The AMPTP had previously responded with “fundamental objections” to this proposal in particular, noting that it had offered “substantial increases” to high-budget SVOD series residuals, disputed Parrot’s data accuracy, and asserted that revenue-sharing means performers would “share in the rewards of a successful show, without bearing any of the risk.” It also noted that when a show finds home on a streaming service, its producers do not share in its subscription revenue and instead receive a licensing fee from the streamer.

But Crabtree-Ireland pointed to companies that have already inked the interim pact and claimed that “those terms can be easily adopted by the industry, because here are independent producers, generally with fewer resources than the AMPTP, and they can go ahead and do production under these exact terms.” 

So there we are. Performers are now on Day 18 of the SAG-AFTRA strike and writers are on Day 91 of the Writers Guild of America work stoppage.

What’s on tap tomorrow? The WGA is hand-delivering a petition to NBCUniversal to demand that it install a picketable pedestrian lane on Lankershim Blvd. (The street, as you may have seen, has been under heavy construction for many a week now.)

I’ll be there to nose around on the latest. Have something you think should be on my radar? Talk to me: elaine@theankler.com.

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ICYMI in Strike News

• One actor, Josh Hooks, was on the verge of breaking through in the industry before the strike hit. But now he’s relegated to cleaning apartments in order to keep his head above water. “The glitz and glamour is what the general public sees,” Hooks said. “The reality is anything but.” (Washington Post)

• Many actors have reported shrinking salaries to go along with smaller job titles, as guest stars have been reduced to day players and series regulars have been lowered to recurring. (New York Times)

• One place where sub-$1 residuals are treated like a badge of honor: Studio City bar Residuals Tavern, where many production workers congregate amidst the current struggle over what the bar is named after. (Los Angeles Times)

• Though the WGA/SAG-AFTRA and the Teamsters’ UPS strike may not seem very connected — especially considering the UPS workers just cut a deal — they’re both tied together by one thing: consumers’ need for expediency and instant gratification. (AP)

• “Sun’s out, guns out” seems to be the motto for the picket lines these days, with actors like Jeremy Allen White, Tyler James Williams, and even 83-year-old F. Murray Abraham making tank tops the fashionable look amid the sweltering heat. (GQ)

• Some actors are opting into plastic surgeries that normally would have been difficult to quickly and discreetly recover from, if not for an extended break from production. “It’s been a little tricky, but we’re trying to get as many people in as possible,” said plastic surgeon Dr. Catherine Chang. “We understand that usually actors and people in Hollywood don’t really get this opportunity to take time off and people are utilizing this time now to do personal things and personal interests of theirs.” (Allure)

• Sony has pushed back some of its big upcoming tentpoles, including Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Kraven the Hunter, and a new Ghostbusters sequel. (New York Times)

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Picket Sign of the Day

Writers’ first look and overall deals are in jeopardy of disappearing as soon as Aug. 1, as studios could use force majeure clauses to tear up the contracts, reported Variety last week. Here’s one way to mark the occasion.

(credit: Dan Peck / Instagram)

Additional reporting by Matthew Frank.