- The Washington Times - Thursday, October 12, 2023

Contract negotiations between Screen Actors Guild members and Hollywood studios were suspended Wednesday after the two parties disagreed over major issues.

The talks stopped a week after the talks began, reportedly after the union and studios couldn’t reach a deal on artificial intelligence regulations and residual payments.

The union said it entered talks in good faith and with high hopes, especially since the studios recently reached a deal with the formerly striking Writers Guild of America.

“It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer,” union negotiators said Thursday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers apparently walked away from bargaining after reading SAG’s residual sharing proposal, which the studios said would cost them $800 million a year.

SAG negotiators denied the studio’s claims and said they had inflated their estimates by around 60%.

The studios said they offered the same deal to the striking actors that they offered to the WGA but that SAG rejected it.

SAG went on strike in mid-July, joining the already-striking Hollywood writers. Writers approved a contract with the AMPTP this week, leaving actors alone on the picket line. The strike has brought entertainment content production to a halt and cost the industry billions.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.

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