SAG-AFTRA advised its members Monday night that negotiations will resume on Tuesday, but warned that the two sides remain “far apart” on key issues.
The union and the major studios have been bargaining for a week, focusing on issues like increases in minimum payments, a new residual model in streaming, and artificial intelligence.
“The committee worked independently today. We will be meeting with the AMPTP Tuesday,” the union advised its membership. “While talks over the past week have been productive, we remain far apart on key issues.”
The union asked members to keep up the pressure on the studios by posting on social media and coming out in force to the picket lines.
The studios have warned that unless a deal is reached this week, it will be impossible for the broadcasters to salvage half a season of scripted television. The 2024 summer movie season is also increasingly in peril, as more and more films have been delayed to 2025.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s top negotiator, appeared on the picket lines on Monday morning, and said that he remains “cautiously optimistic” about the talks.
“As long as we keep talking as long as we’re moving things forward, that is what needs to be happening,” he said. “There has been progress and that’s the source of my continued cautious optimism.”
The union has sought to establish a framework of regulations around the use of artificial intelligence to create “digital doubles.” While the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has said that it agrees that performers must give consent and be paid for AI use, the union has long maintained that “the devil is in the details.”
Crabtree-Ireland said Monday that the union is still pushing to limit AI consent to a single project. He said the studios instead want a consent to be valid for the entire run of a franchise.
The union has also sought to give itself a veto over AI uses, which the studios have resisted.