Hollywood Studios Slam Striking Actors After Suspending Contract Talks - Here's Why

As the SAG-AFTRA picket line remains strong, talks between the actors' guild and the major studio alliance have ceased once again — and the studios are claiming that the guild's demands simply aren't reasonable.

"After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction," the AMPTP said in a statement obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The AMPTP only recently settled with the Writers Guild of America, and since SAG-AFTRA joined the strike in July of this year, the two guilds formed a historic double strike and marked the dawn of a new age in the entertainment industry. The advent of streaming has affected the careers of writers, actors, and so many other artists since studios started punting television shows and movies exclusively to their services. As those studios move away from the traditional network and theater model, residuals are becoming a thing of the past. According to reports from both sides, SAG-AFTRA is asking for a 2% cut of streaming revenues for performers, and the AMPTP has been perfectly clear that this is too big of an ask for them.

By the time SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on the picket lines, the AMPTP had already employed some pretty shady tactics when it came to negotiating ... or at least, they intended to. Back in July, Deadline reported that studios fully intended on letting writers go broke and lose their homes before they'd cave, at which point actors joined the strike and made that stance more or less impossible. Writers are, obviously, vital to the success of any project; imagine a movie like "Barbie" written by a room full of studio executives instead of a pair of sharp, imaginative minds like Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. Still, striking actors are unable to do press for past, present, or future projects, which means studios are starting to hold big releases until their stars can return to the red carpet.

"The companies are using the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA — putting out misleading information in an attempt to fool our members into abandoning our solidarity and putting pressure on our negotiators," SAG-AFTRA said in a statement, also obtained by the Los Angeles Times. "But, just like the writers, our members are smarter than that and will not be fooled."

A 2% cut of revenue seems like a pretty basic ask from SAG-AFTRA, right? Well, not according to the AMPTP, which said it would "create an untenable economic burden" and estimated that it would total $800 million in revenue. Beyond that, the two still can't agree on the advent of artificial intelligence technology, which was also a sticking point for the WGA. Early on in the strike, it was revealed that the AMPTP wanted to "scan" background actors and use their likenesses in perpetuity, and apparently, the two sides are still fighting over something similar.

The Los Angeles Times said that the AMPTP's deal is that performer's digital likenesses can be used as long as said performer consents, but SAG-AFTRA found a flaw in that offer, responding that they felt as if studios would simply pressure actors into consenting for fear of losing the gig all together. 

"We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed," SAG-AFTRA said. "We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day."

This piece was written during 2023's SAG-AFTRA strike. To learn more about why actors are currently on strike, click here for an up-to-date explainer from our Looper team.