SAG-AFTRA, Studios to Continue Contract Talks on Thursday

SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have concluded negotiations for the day and are expected to continue talks on Thursday as the long process of constructing a new contract continues.

Cautious optimism continues to be the tone among studio insiders who spoke to TheWrap, with the belief that steady progress is being made towards a deal. Studios are anxious to get actors back to work on awards and holiday film promotion campaigns and to salvage production on movies and TV shows for 2024, as several films like “Mission: Impossible 8” have already been moved off of next year’s release slate.

But SAG-AFTRA insiders told TheWrap prior to the start of talks that the guild is focused on ensuring that actors get a contract that reflects the streaming-first nature of today’s entertainment industry and protects against exploitative practices such as AI replicas without consent and excessive demands for self-taped auditions.

As the actors’ strike reached its 110th day, SAG-AFTRA held a unity rally with other Hollywood unions in front of the Disney lot in Burbank, suspending picket lines in front of all other studio lots in Los Angeles, hours before Disney announced its plans to take full control of Hulu via an $8.6 billion deal with Comcast for the NBCUniversal parent company’s stake in the streaming service.

SAG-AFTRA members also received a video message from guild president Fran Drescher via her Instagram page before talks began on Wednesday.

“I’m getting ready now to go to work, and I just want you to know that I feel a sense of strength, not anger, and I feel a sense of optimism, not negativity,” Drescher said.

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