Today's Curious Email From the 'Teacher's Pet Union'
'They visited the car dealership and paid sticker price,' says one DGA-WGA member of the DGA's own deal. 'Don’t try to spin it as being otherwise'
This just in before I get into the other big labor story today: the latest on the SAG-AFTRA negotiations and its 160,000 members who are still on strike, which, contrary to the wane in media coverage, we should not think of as an afterthought post-writers strike.
The actors guild, of course, is back in the negotiating room for a second straight week with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which reps the major studios and streamers. One source familiar with the talks tells me they’re not getting anywhere, even with studio chiefs and top execs in the room (both sides met for three days last week and two so far this week). And, notably, AI has apparently been a sticking point so far — similar to the last days of the WGA talks.
Moving on: a mere two days after the Writers Guild of America’s membership ratified its hard-won new contract — an historic deal that includes far more than any industry observers thought they would gain at the start of their 148-day strike — the Directors Guild of America has released a bit of a curious memo to its membership.
Responding to “misguided” news coverage and social media reactions, the DGA defended its contract wins, which include wage bumps and foreign residual increases. The timing is a bit odd, given that the new directors’ contract was ratified back in June, and press scrutiny has been minimal. But in light of the jubilation surrounding the WGA deal, there has perhaps been dissatisfaction among DGA ranks — it’s been pointed out to me that the DGA’s relevance was put under the microscope in the latest Deadline Strike Talk podcast hosted by Billy Ray.
“Honestly, it’s disappointing,” one DGA-WGA dual member tells me of today’s email. “I think the DGA made a good deal in any other negotiation cycle. But we all know this wasn’t a normal negotiation cycle. They visited the car dealership and paid sticker price. That’s fine but don’t try to spin it as being otherwise.”
Says another industry insider: “I think it’s obvious to everyone in town that the DGA could have gotten more by going on strike or at least taking a SAV (strike authorization vote). And the email almost reads as an acknowledgment of that. The DGA’s philosophy has been for 40 years that strikes don’t work, that they can do better by being the teacher’s pet union that plays along with the AMPTP.”
A DGA spokesperson shared the following statement after this story was published: “Our communication to our members speaks for itself. We are simultaneously proud of what we achieved in our negotiations and steadfast in support of our sibling Guilds in their fight for the best possible deal for their members.
Read the full memo and more reactions at The Ankler, for paid subscribers:
ICYMI in Strike News
Post-writers strike, Hollywood is torn on how to go forward, with some arguing for more drastic measures. “In the end we learned from this strike that the [AMPTP] should not be one entity,” says Billy Ray, a veteran screenwriter who was co-chair of the WGA’s negotiating committee in the 2017 contract negotiation. “It should be the legacy [studio] companies as one bargaining unit, and then the tech companies as another. They could make separate deals. They have separate needs.” (Variety)
As if they were going against Vought, stars from both The Boys and series spinoff Gen V united on the picket line to rally against the studios. (Screen Rant)
Production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things was set to begin in the small town of Jackson, Georgia in May. Without it, the city has taken a sizable hit, and some in the state have called to reassess its tax-friendly attitude toward film productions. “I know a lot of stunt people that are working for GameStop right now because they can’t get jobs,” Stranger Things special effects artist Liz Bowman said. “I know a lot of camera people who straight up went to go work for Best Buy.” (New York Times)
Cast members from Grey’s Anatomy — including Kim Raver, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr. and Sarah Drew — reunited on the Warner Bros. picket line last Friday. “Proud to stand in solidarity on the picket line today with many of our Grey’s cast/crew family and fellow #SAGAFTRA Union members today in front of Warner Brothers!” wrote Raver, who plays Dr. Teddy Altman on the show, in an Instagram post. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Once the actors strike concludes, John Cena will be tapping out of his WWE return to continue making movies. “I’ve made it perfectly clear you can’t do both because of the liability insurance,” Cena said at a post-show press conference. “If I were to try to juggle both that would be incredibly selfish because I’d put a lot of people in the movie business out of work if something happened to me.” (The Messenger)
If there’s one thread tying together the (almost) UPS, Hollywood, and auto worker strikes, it could be that employers have struggled to account for the anger and resolve that’s brewed in the post-pandemic workforce. “Psychologically, it’s a big shift: They’ve been in control. They have been able to tell their representatives to go and get concessions on X and Y, to make sure the wage increase is modest,” said Thomas Kochan, an emeritus management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, referring to corporate executives. (New York Times)
Additional reporting for ICYMI in Strike News by Matthew Frank.
Disclosure: Elaine Low is an inactive member of SAG-AFTRA.
