Los Angeles, US, Nov 6 (EFE).- The United States actors union (SAG-AFTRA) announced Monday that it still has not reached an agreement with the studios over “several essential items” of its “last, best and final offer.”
A billboard advertising the Netflix film Fair Play is seen behind members of SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) rallying outside Netflix Studios in Los Angeles, California, USA, 17 October 2023. EFE/EPA/Allison Dinner
“This morning our negotiators have formally responded to the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers)’s ‘last, best and final’ offer (…) There are several essential items on which we still do not have an agreement, including AI,” SAG-AFTRA said Monday on X.
In the brief statement, the institution said that “every” member of its negotiating committee was determined to secure “the right deal” to end the strike that has been going for 116 days.
The counteroffer from the AMPTP, an organization that represents the main US film and TV production companies, was delivered on Saturday to the SAG-AFTRA commissioners, who held a meeting on Sunday to evaluate the proposal and postponed their response until Monday.
The issue of using AI to create digital doubles of performers has been one of the most talked about and heated topics throughout the strike that has kept Hollywood paralyzed for months.
According to some specialized media, in the last proposal the AMPTP addressed the issue of AI by offering an increase in salaries to professionals that allow them to be replicated virtually. However, it did not commit to stopping training its AI systems. SAG-AFTRA has advocated for a regulated model with specific clauses that protect them from this type of practice.
Another issue that has kept the dispute tense is financial remuneration for the retransmission of content on streaming platforms.
The AMPTP proposed a series of bonuses that could double their usual salary, depending on the success that their productions obtain on streaming services, while among the SAG-AFTRA requests were a remuneration of 2 percent of the annual income from studios and platforms, and a fee for each new subscriber of streaming companies.
During the last two weeks, the studios have insisted on the need to close an agreement as soon as possible to maintain a schedule that allows the television season to be saved and advance the 2024 film schedule.
The first joint strike in six decades involving SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America, which reached an agreement with AMPTP at the end of September, has meant losses of $6.5 billion for the Californian economy and the layoff of 45,000 workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. EFE
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