SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Anticipates Prolonged Strikes in the Entertainment Industry.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director of SAG-AFTRA, sees little prospect of major Hollywood studios and streaming services returning to the negotiation table to resolve the dual strikes afflicting the entertainment industry.
Regrettably, there are no signs of their re-engagement with us. As we reach day 57 of our strike, it appears they are not inclined to resume discussions with us,” stated the union’s lead negotiator, clad in the iconic SAG-AFTRA strike T-shirt, during an informal exchange at the Toronto Film Festival.
Furthermore, Hollywood lacks a pivotal mediator among the prominent studios and streaming platforms the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers represents to mediate the dual strikes involving actors and writers. “Whether for better or worse, the era of figures like Lew Wasserman has passed,” remarked Duncan Crabtree-Ireland of the late MCA head, who was often hailed as the last great Hollywood tycoon.
Crabtree-Ireland asserted that a network of influential producers, agency leaders, and government representatives—individuals with intimate ties to the heads of major studios and streaming platforms—must exert pressure on the AMPTP’s representatives to return to the negotiating table.
While refraining from speculating on when the labor actions of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America might conclude with fresh contracts or when the AMPTP will re-engage with the actors’ union, Crabtree-Ireland did touch on recent informal dialogues. He clarified that these discussions primarily centered on procedural matters, aiming to facilitate renewed communication between the parties rather than substantive proposals for formulating new agreements.
In the interim, Crabtree-Ireland emphasized that the union’s members stand committed to supporting SAG-AFTRA and its negotiation stances. “Our members are unwavering because they understand the existential importance of our cause,” he conveyed to the TIFF panel.
Crabtree-Ireland also underscored that interim accords do not imply waivers or preferential treatment for independent producers who have endorsed them. “An interim agreement means these companies have accepted the terms we presented on the final day of negotiations with the studios and streaming platforms. So, as of July 12, these companies have committed to that agreement,” he contended.
“It constitutes a comprehensive collective agreement encompassing all the conditions the studios and streaming platforms should have accepted on July 12. Had they done so, a strike might have been averted,” he insisted. Mindful of his presence at the Toronto Film Festival, Crabtree-Ireland encouraged SAG-AFTRA members associated with film projects under interim agreements to promote these works at autumn festivals.
“I’m urging our members to take pride in endorsing and participating in these projects because their success further strengthens our position,” he remarked. His elucidation on interim agreements comes in light of certain independent producers potentially entering sales agreements with studios or streaming platforms, with the understanding that these arrangements will not be disclosed until the dual strikes are resolved or assuming that they will no longer be bound by them once new labor agreements are reached.
Crabtree-Ireland contended that major studios and streaming platforms would fail to attempt to outlast his union or stand firm on denying concessions for workers in the pursuit of a resolution. “That strategy will not be in their favor,” he asserted.
When asked whether reports were accurate in suggesting he had been “contentious” when talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke down on July 12, he affirmed, “That’s accurate.” Crabtree-Ireland pointed out that the major studios and streaming platforms were reluctant to negotiate with union members prepared to take to the picket lines.
“I reminded them that it is every worker’s federally protected right to strike if bargaining fails to secure a fair contract for them. Fran [Drescher] had some additional comments for them,” he recollected.
Crabtree-Ireland contended that major studios and streaming platforms seemed intent on yielding minimal concessions at the negotiation table. “They adopt a strategy of resistance, making only token offerings, followed by an unyielding stance, in hopes of forcing our hand,” he described the negotiating posture of the AMPTP representatives.
Addressing an offer by the AMPTP to compensate background performers for a single day of work in exchange for the rights to their digital likeness, Crabtree-Ireland emphasized that AI had even graver implications for lead performers in franchise films.
He explained that major studios and streaming platforms had proposed that actors taking on minor roles in a project within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for instance, who may be engaged for a day or a week, must consent to the perpetual use of a digital replication of themselves, without their approval or additional compensation.
“Consider the predicament this puts someone in. They finally secure a significant opportunity, landing a role in a Marvel film, which could be their big break. Then they are informed that they must essentially relinquish ownership of their persona to this corporation for any future use,” Crabtree-Ireland stated. “Such a proposition is entirely immoral. Naturally, we rejected it.”
