On Friday, the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) decided to postpone their contracting negotiations until July 12th. According to Deadline, this decision was due to the need for further bargaining on a new deal. The source stated that the initial plan was for the contract to expire at midnight on June 30th, meaning that it “would have likely meant a second major Hollywood guild would be on strike against the studios.” 

Deadline presented the official joint statement of both companies, which states, “The agreements, which were set to expire at 11:59 pm PT tonight, will now expire on July 12th, at 11:59 pm PT. The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout. Neither organization will comment to the media about the negotiations during the extension.” 

According to Variety, their sources have said that the two organizations were having major differences in opinion on several issues, including those of protections against AI. They go on to say that “the actors union could call a strike as soon as Saturday if no deal is reached. The actors would join the Writers Guild of America, which has been picketing outside major studios since May 2nd.”

If both the writers and the actors are on strike, then the industry would have no choice but to halt the production of most scripted movies and TV shows in addition to the already halted TV productions from the earlier strike. On June 5th, SAG-AFTRA held an internal vote about whether or not to strike if the upcoming contract failed to meet an acceptable agreement. The vote was 98% in favor of a strike if the terms of the contract were unsatisfactory. 

The updated terms of the contract – and a notation of if a strike is present or not – should be released on July 12th.