Panic Mode: 'Feels Like the Floor is Falling Out'
Both sides agree to federal mediation as SAG-AFTRA doomsday preps agencies and flacks for a strike
The town is officially in panic mode. With only one day to go before SAG-AFTRA’s contract with Hollywood’s studios expires, tensions are running high as industry insiders sense that an actors strike is more likely than not.
The performers guild has been doomsday prepping publicists and agencies for a possible strike, I’m told, offering guidance on what constitutes “struck work,” i.e. what kinds of work actors, dancers and other members of SAG-AFTRA will and will not be able to do during a strike. (Vanity Fair has a solid rundown of the guidelines offered on the call with publicists.)
One source familiar with the talks between the union and the agencies says that SAG-AFTRA has been “more collaborative” than the Writers Guild was in the lead-up to a possible work stoppage.
Amid the threat of 160,000 performers taking to the picket lines and shutting down what little production is left — not to mention upending Emmy season — “it feels like the floor is falling out from Hollywood,” this person says.
The WGA strike is now on Day 71, and the scribes’ union apparently has been plenty helpful to its actor counterpart, working with SAG-AFTRA to train strike captains on the picket lines, a separate source told me yesterday. (For those keeping score, the 2007-08 writers strike lasted 100 days.)
Hollywood’s head honchos are anxious to reach a deal. While Variety reported today that studio heads including Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav (all planned attendees at the Allen & Co. conference starting today in Sun Valley) huddled by phone on Monday in an attempt to problem-solve the strike, I’m told on good authority that Iger was not in fact on that call (Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman were), and that the call was actually two separate calls.
Meanwhile, the AMPTP has called in the Feds — the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, that is — for aid in smoothing out the talks. In a statement released on Tuesday evening, SAG-AFTRA confirmed that it will engage a federal mediation agency, but will not extend talk deadlines for a second time.
“The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming Negotiating Committee has agreed to the AMPTP’s last-minute request for federal mediation and has reaffirmed the negotiating committee’s dedication to securing a fair deal by the expiration of the extended contract at 11:59 p.m. PT on Wednesday, July 12,” said the release, which also condemned “the tactic outlined in today’s inaccurate Variety piece naming the CEOs of several entertainment conglomerates as the force behind the request for mediation; information that was leaked to the press by the CEOs and their ‘anonymous sources’ before our negotiators were even told of the request for mediation.”
Furthermore, agency heads including CAA’s Bryan Lourd, Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel and UTA’s Jeremy Zimmer (who previously said he stands with the writers) are reportedly offering to help massage talks as well.
On top of the general chaotic feel of things, it doesn’t help optics that SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher was spotted hobnobbing at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Italy on Saturday with noted picket line-crosser and new American Horror Story cast member Kim Kardashian. A SAG spox told me yesterday, however, that The Nanny star is a brand ambassador for D&G and has been participating in negotiations either in person or by video call every day. (The trip was known to the SAG negotiating committee.) Still, just as eyebrows were raised when Zaslav was off party-planning in Cannes alongside Graydon Carter during the outset of the writers strike, Drescher’s jet-setting comes at a rocky time while performers wonder if they’ll be hitting the picket lines on Thursday.
Actors, performers: how are you feeling about the prospect of a SAG strike? Talk to me: elaine@theankler.com.
Today in Strike News
Swingers Diner in L.A. has become a hub for writers during the strike, especially since Drew Carey pays for the meals of anybody who flashes a WGA membership card. “It feels like a union mess hall,” says writer Anya Meskin. (New York Times)
As the strike approaches a crucial tipping point, legislators are keeping close tabs on the situation, with many announcing their outright support for the picketers. (The Hill)
After the strike’s said and done, jobs in the TV space could become even more intensely competitive than they already are, given the likely contraction in scripted-series spending. (Variety)
Fox unveiled its fall lineup yesterday, heavy on unscripted content in the wake of the strike. (Adweek)
While the TV Academy is hoping for a November date for the Emmy Awards, Fox is pushing for January in an argument that might come down to whether or not the actors end up going on strike. (Variety)
Is the era of Peak TV through? With the strike signaling an industry in decline, it sure seems that way to many, especially as contraction seems to be an inevitable next step. (Variety)
Picket Sign of the Day
Writer Joy Blake to the AMPTP: “Give us our piece of the pie.”
Additional reporting by Matthew Frank.
I’m feeling like we need to join the writers! Enough is enough, this is ridiculous. We’re serious about fixing and protecting our industry moving forward from the greedy Wall Street overlords. The conflicting press reports today are not making me think a deal is anywhere CLOSE. We all want to work, but we are SERIOUS about fixing things. The short term pain is terrible but this is for long term gains. We ALL want longevity in this career. Actors and writers and our hard working crews DESERVE that. We can’t all be yacht-riding, clueless CEOs.