SAG-AFTRA Interim agreements are the talk of the town among the independent film community in Toronto and the union’s top negotiator told a panel on Friday that they have received around 1,200 applications and processed roughly 400.
“We’re working as fast as we can to get through them,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, told moderator Anne Thompson of IndieWire at a TIFF Industry Conference session.
Crabtree-Ireland got an early round of applause from the audience at Glenn Gould Studio when he added: “It’s a full-on collective agreement that includes all the terms that the studios and streamers should have said yes to back on July 12 – if they’d had done that we wouldn’t be on strike.”
He reminded that interim agreements do not preclude a sale to a streamer. “There’s no prohibition… however the interim agreement does contain our streaming revenue share proposal and so if that were to happen prior to the end of the strike the streamers would be obligated to company with that.
“Once the strike is over the interim agreement and whatever deal they make with AMPTP, those terms will merge. So anyone who signs now will not be at a disadvantage.”
Referring to the recent return to the table by AMPTP and the Writers Guild Of America (WGA), Crabtree-Ireland said there had been some movement on transparency, adding that the Hollywood companies said they would share a limited set of viewership numbers with WGA but would elaborate on the money aspect in three years’ time.
’We’re willing to get back to the table’
Asked when talks might resume after SAG-AFTRA went on strike on July 14, Crabtree-Ireland said: “Today is Day 57 of our strike and we don’t have any indication they are willing to come back to the table with us.”
The former Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office criminal prosecutor later added, “We’re willing to get back to the table and would happily [reconvene] tomorrow.” Talks broke down in July after Crabtree-Ireland said he got the impression the Hollywood companies did not believe the union would go on strike for the first time in 40 years. (The last substantial strike by what was then SAG was 43 years ago in 1980.)
“A lot of people think about our members and think of big stars but of those 160,000 members the vast majority are working people who are trying to make a living and pay the rent… 80%-plus of our members don’t make more than $26,000 a year and don’t qualify for health insurance,” Crabtree-Ireland said.
“It’s no coincide that both these unions [SAG-AFTRA and WGA] are on strike… The companies refused to respect the creative contribution our members make to their companies… the entirety of their business is founded on our unique contribution. There’s no respect for this process and it’s incredibly disappointing.”
He emphasised that while there was some flexibility in the union’s broad set of demands, it would not budge on its core proposals related to fair compensation, informed consent for AI work, and enhanced streamer residuals.
“The streamer business model has affected everything,” he said. “These companies unilaterally changed the way the business works and yet they want to keep the labour contracts frozen to how they were back in the 90s. … You have to let the contracts evolve so people can make a living. People used to make 26 episodes a year, now they make [fewer] every three years.
Regulating AI
On the matter of AI, which was the subject of a panel discussion earlier in the day, he said: “The devil is in the details with AI. The companies have said publicly they agree to [the notion of informed] consent but what does that mean? We talk about informed consent if an actor agrees to a digital replica but we need to know how it’s going to be used. Studios talk about a clause buried in a contract where the actor agrees to consent for use forever.”
He has previously given the example of extras getting paid for a day’s work whereby their faces would be scanned and could be used in perpetuity, without compensation.
“There was a similar proposal for what they call franchise projects applying to principal performers… let’s say you got hired to be a minor character in a Marvel movie: as a condition of getting that opportunity you’d sign off with them being able to use your likeness in perpetuity without any further compensation.”
One UK producer in the audience expressed frustration that his project, which was full financed and ready to go, might fall apart while he awaits Global Rule One approval, then an interim agreement approval.
Global Rule One is contained within SAG-AFTRA rules and stipulates a member cannot work on a project anywhere in the world that is not covered by a SAG-AFTRA agreement.
“We are approving Global Rule One side letters as part of the same process,” said Crabtree-Ireland.
“You’re not being delayed because it’s Global Rule One; it’s in the hopper with the rest of the projects… We’re generally approving them in submission order, however we decided to give priority to projects such as those at TIFF so they could bring cast. If you have a specific exigent circumstance let our staff know.”
Crabtree-Ireland said he was in almost daily contact with his counterpart at WGA. SAG-AFTRA recently amended the approvals process to cut out projects covered by the WGA contract. He said there was overlap with projects covered by SAG-AFTRA contracts in around one-third of cases.
Taylor Swift
The chief negotiator also addressed next month’s Taylor Swift Eras concert movie release and confirmed earlier reports that the pop superstar secured an interim agreement to shoot and promote it (filming reportedly took place during the recent Los Angeles leg of her tour).
“Taylor Swift is an example of the kind of SAG-AFTRA members and artist that we really appreciate,” he said. The film, which has bypassed studio distributors and is being distributed by AMC Theatres, is expected to open in the $70-$100m range over the October 13-15 weekend and finish in the region of $150m in the US.
Towards the end of the session Crabtree-Ireland was joined on stage by Marie Kelly, national executive director of Canadian union ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), who expressed solidarity with SAG-AFTRA.
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