Though the agreement still needs to be voted on, many people celebrate the end of the strike and SAG-AFTRA’s new benefits. Not only have SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland expressed their hope and love for this progress, but many productions put on hold for the strike could finally resume for the 2024 calendar.
Most studios warned that some productions wouldn’t resume due to the holidays approaching. Even so, many projects are available to restart due to being in pre-production or production when the strike started in July. This week and in the future, Deadpool 3 (50% complete), Beetlejuice 2 (two days left), and Juror No. 2 (nearly a dozen days left) will soon resume production. With the ongoing strike, many exhibitors feared going bankrupt thanks to the lack of big summer movies. Even now, many filmmakers are pushing for immediate releases by 2024. One filmmaker told Deadline, “The desire for a juicy release date next year is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s at the corporate mandate of priority.”
Still, most of Hollywood is praising the final agreement, with Drescher even calling it a $1 billion deal that will be talked about “in the way that [SAG-AFTRA had] been for the last 65 years with a contract that was negotiated when Ronald Reagan was in [her] position.” In an interview with Deadline, Crabtree-Ireland and Drescher gave their opinions regarding the overall strike and final result. They couldn’t give full details, but they did note that they did attain the guardrails needed for many members’ concerns over AI. Crabtree-Ireland remarked that the deal fleshed out since October 24th is “more specific than the ones…seen in other contracts because our members are experiencing the use of AI right now.” Not only will actors maintain their copyright over their image and voice for composite actors, but deceased actors will also have their image protected and used only with their heir or estate’s explicit permission.
Still, Drescher admitted that more work needs to be done to accomplish their goals. She conceded that nobody gets everything they want in a negotiation, meaning they need to develop another contract once this agreement’s three-year term expires. Drescher still expressed excitement over this agreement since she believed it would affect future generations of actors. “What we’re fighting for is something that wasn’t just a regular three-year marketing cycle; we always knew that,” she proclaimed.
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