LOS ANGELES – Talks between the studios and the union representing thousands of actors on strike in Hollywood have been suspended, both sides announced.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in a statement late Wednesday that the gap between it and the union known as SAG-AFTRA is “extremely wide.”
“Conversations no longer move us in a productive direction,” said the coalition, known as AMPTP. (The trade association represents NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has been on strike since July 14.
“It is with great disappointment that we report that the industry’s CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer,” it said in a message to members early Thursday.
The actors’ union went on strike on May 2, a few weeks after the writers’ strike. After nearly five months, the Writers Guild of America strike ended on September 27. Members of that association approved the deal this week.
The actors’ union and AMPTP said they would resume talks at the end of September.
SAG-AFTRA said in a statement Thursday, “We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite an offer that was shockingly less valuable than what they proposed last week before the strike began.”
The trade association for studios singled out the audience bonus sought by SAG-AFTRA and said it would “create an unbearable economic burden” on studios. It said the move would cost $800 million a year.
SAG-AFTRA accused the studios of “bully tactics” that “deliberately misrepresented the cost of the above project to the press – overstating it by 60%.”
SAG-AFTRA says it needs “a modern contract that addresses modern issues” and wants higher wages, artificial intelligence and greater participation in streaming revenue.
