SAG-AFTRA Strike Could Hinge On AI; Deep Divisions Remain Between Actors & Studios [View all]

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https://deadline.com/2023/07/actors-strike-ai-kim-kardashian-fran-drescher-contract-deadline-1235432142/

“There seems to be no real negotiations here,” a SAG-AFTRA member close to talks tells Deadline on AI talks with the AMPTP. “Actors see Black Mirror’s ‘Joan Is Awful’ as a documentary of the future, with their likenesses sold off and used any way producers and studios want.” The union member is referring to the opening episode of the latest season of the Charlie Brooker-created satire starring Salma Hayek and Annie Murphy. “We want a solid pathway. The studios countered with ‘trust us’ – we don’t.”

Just like the striking WGA before it, the Fran Drescher-led 160,000-strong union wants heavy duty assurances and guarantees in terms of the deployment, reach and scope of AI in the industry for its members. Having just put a new set of proposals on the negotiating table, the AMPTP allegedly doesn’t want to discuss the potentially game-changing matter in any substantial way, various sources tell me.

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“This is a power grab, pure and simple,” a well-established actress said of the AMPTP’s stance on AI. “We see what’s coming. They can’t pretend we won’t be used digitally or become the source of new, cheap, AI-created content for the studios.”

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With divisions over AI and issues like residuals running deep in the talks, it appears quite likely at this point that SAG-AFTRA’s members could be on strike by the morning of July 13. Under media blackout, the negotiations continue. However, during the past week, pickets signs are being prepared and lists of volunteers are being set up, among other measures being put in place in anticipation of a strike.