With a June 30 deadline looming to reach a deal with Hollywood studios, SAG-AFTRA leaders told members Saturday that the negotiations have been “extremely productive” and promised to “achieve a seminal deal.”
The message came a day after the Directors Guild of America ratified a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. If the actors’ union follows suit, it would leave the striking Writers Guild of America twisting in the wind, despite early promises of solidarity between the three unions.
Jason Squire, professor emeritus at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and host of the Movie Business podcast, told KNX News’ Margaret Carrero and Charles Feldman that this may be a troubling sign for writers.
“I think it does put pressure on writers,” he said. “The management strategy is, as you mentioned earlier, to focus on each guild one after another, to break the so-called solidarity that they originally pledged. And the WGA talks are just not happening.”
The AMPTP hasn’t returned to the negotiating table since the WGA began striking more than 50 days ago. During the last writers’ strike in 2007-08, the studios used the same “divide and conquer” strategy, but WGA leadership says it won’t work this time.
“The essence of the strategy is to make deals with some unions and tell the rest that’s all there is. It’s gaslighting, and it only works if unions are divided,” the union said in a message to members on June 1.
Squire said that if the strike continues to drag on, it may lead to bad blood between the writers and the other unions.
“If it becomes really, really, really tooth and nail and an even longer strike, the resentments may be also as long. It’s not a healthy thing for the industry, and management is sitting back because they’re quite content, possibly, to have the guilds unhappy with each other,” he said.
Even if SAG-AFTRA reaches a deal, that doesn’t necessarily mean the actors will be working. Major film and scripted TV production in L.A. reached a complete shutdown last week after almost two months of WGA picketing.
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