After over 100 days of withholding work, SAG-AFTRA is working on a counteroffer to the proposal from four CEOs who met with them on Tuesday. The CEOs are represented by the AMPTP, but Variety reports that their personal involvement was to “impress on SAG-AFTRA leadership the economic stakes as the stalemate drags on.”
One of the economic stakes they mentioned: cancelled TV shows and a total rewrite of the upcoming scripted TV schedule for 2024. While the CEOs meant to merely lay out “the basic realities” of the strike, SAG-AFTRA interpreted this as a threat.
But negotiations really broke down when streaming studios refused the SAG-AFTRA request for 57 cents per streaming subscription—something around $500 million a year. Studios straight up refused, saying that the demand was “untenable.” The counteroffer was a bonus for well-performing shows and films, similar to the WGA deal. The successful show would be “viewed by the equivalent of 20% of the platform’s subscribers within the first 90 days of release.” This offer would likely amount to $20 million per year, according to Variety.
The report comes after the AMPTP has, through unnamed sources speaking to major Hollywood trades, repeatedly attempted to press on certain aspects of negotiating with Hollywood’s unions over the past few months by airing details publicly through the media. It was a tactic that ultimately blew up in its face during negotiations with the WGA when it was on strike over the summer, and one that SAG-AFTRA has in turn responded negatively to in prior releases of negotiation details.
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