If SAG-AFTRA decides to strike on Wednesday, actors will not be able to:

• Film any movie & TV productions
• Take part in any press junkets or film premieres
• Promote anything at SDCC, and will be advised not to attend at all

(Source: https://t.co/Zmr8WLSknR) pic.twitter.com/usNKcCFyFY

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 10, 2023

Welp, there it is. Hopefully this speeds negotiations along

sounds like a pride event

TXAGBQ76 said:

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sounds like a pride event

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Iew…that's terrifying!

This woman is so stupid, having made gaffe after gaffe during these negotiations. This one takes the cake, though. Hopefully she's replaced in the next election...

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Criticized for Dolce & Gabbana Outing in Italy Amid Contract Negotiations: “It’s Bad Optics” https://t.co/fdZPr6DwEZ

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 11, 2023

When your sweet six-figure residuals from a 90’s sitcom allow you to jetset off to Italy in the middle of a critical labor negotiation that doesn’t afford your fellow union members the same financial advantages, that’s amore. https://t.co/UXdVdzZ9Oh

— Gennefer Gross (@Gennefer) July 10, 2023

Sea Speed said:

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So she isn't allowed to go anywhere? Do they not have zoom in Hollywood? And she made her money with a hit show years ago, is she not allowed to spend it? Shaming her for making residuals? Smacks of jealousy.

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Give me a break. As president of the guild, she peaced out and left the country during the final weekend of negotiations. On no planet is that a good look or good leadership.

That could be a negotiating tactic.

Their answer should be, “sure, we’ll meet with a federal mediator. While we’re on strike.”

— Zachary Loeser (@BadSciFiName) July 11, 2023

By the sound of it, things are going to get uglier before they get better (though this is probably more of negotiation tactic than anything)…

EXCLUSIVE: Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months
https://t.co/4y6uXQ3lQk

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 12, 2023

These people are f/cking ghouls…

Quote:

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"The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses," a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it "a cruel but necessary evil."

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That's exactly what this article is, a warning…

The thing about that article is it's not just about us. It's a big flashing neon sign to SAG-AFTRA saying "Don't make us do to you what we're doing to the writers," because SAG-AFTRA holds all the cards right now. If they walk out tomorrow night, the studios are FUCKED. https://t.co/rrU8FHxMtY

— C. Robert Cargill (@Massawyrm) July 12, 2023

The studios may have just screwed themselves. 70+ days into the WGA strike and I've never seen the writers more pissed and galvanized than they are right now, after reading that article. Just a ridiculously evil threat, in a desperate attempt to try and keep SAG from striking as well. Except now SAG is even more pissed too, and at this point they're also almost assuredly going to strike, tomorrow night, then all of Hollywood shuts down, which the studios are clearly scared to death of, and weren't actually anticipating. What an absolute cluster/ck.

Hello AI?

If I was a consortium of mega corporations desperate to end a strike, but didn't want to be negotiating from a position of known weakness, the first thing I would do is plant a bunch of stories about how I actually love the strike, and wish it could go on even longer. https://t.co/dc7PbISDU1

— Guy Endore-Kaiser (@GuyEndoreKaiser) July 12, 2023

These AMTPT dipshits don’t realize they’ve spent decades training writers to weather being out of work for months or years at a time

— Pat Casey 🎅 (@Pat_Kc) July 12, 2023

If the AMPTP had a secret long term plan, they wouldn’t be calling the Department of Labor on Fran Drescher 24 hours before a strike that will rapidly decimate their businesses and likely lead to Carol Lombardini (and maybe some CEOs) losing their jobs. They have no plan.

— Shawn Wines WGA Captain (@shawnwines) July 12, 2023

It’s worth noting, there is a not a single sentence in the Deadline ransom letter, uh, story, that suggests why shutting down production of scripted filmed entertainment for 6 - 8 months is a good strategy for content distributors.

Physician destroy thyself.

— David Poland (@DavidPoland) July 12, 2023

I'm curious your thoughts how this strike is both similar and different than the one in 2006?

Both from what the writers and/or actors are wanting as well as the overall environment that either benefits or detracts from both sides.

One example is the fact that streaming old shows is prevalent now that wasn't around in the mid-2000s. I have to think that reduces the pressure of incoming revenue for the studios would need for new shows or movies. Thoughts?

Legal Custodian said:

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I'm curious your thoughts how this strike is both similar and different than the one in 2006?

Both from what the writers and/or actors are wanting as well as the overall environment that either benefits or detracts from both sides.

One example is the fact that streaming old shows is prevalent now that wasn't around in the mid-2000s. I have to think that reduces the pressure of incoming revenue for the studios would need for new shows or movies. Thoughts?

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The biggest difference is the fact that Big Tech (Amazon, Apple, Netflix) is now part of the AMPTP, and their attitude is basically that they don't have to play by the same rules as the traditional studios. At the same time cord cutting is in full effect, Big Tech has forced so many new norms (shorter TV seasons, way smaller writer rooms, etc) that it's broken the industry to the point where the vast majority of writers can't earn a living writing any more. It's essentially become a gig economy, one that simply isn't sustainable, both for writers, but also eventually the studios themselves (which they stupidly either don't realize or refuse to care about, since it won't affect them for another few years).

The other big difference is of course the emergence of AI. Studios want to be able to be able to replace both writers and actors with computers (to a certain extent, not all the way), while writers and actors want at least *some* protections in that regard.

As for the streaming of old shows, that's not really a factor in any of this because what primarily feeds audience growth for streaming is new content, not so much old content. Sure, the streamers could last a couple months, but once the new content spigot is turned off, old libraries just won't be enough to retain all of its users, much less grow users. And there's nothing these streamers fear more than their quarterly user numbers dropping.

Ha, exactly.

My pre-strike sense was that there were a number of AMPTP-adjacent people who assumed the WGA would be riven by internal division very quickly. They didn't expect to be made public villains and they did not have a plan B--except, apparently, to say, "Be scared of us! We're mean!"

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) July 12, 2023

The AMPTP lost all their leverage today by asking for mediators.

You can tell because they’re ramping up propaganda.

They were planning for a three month strike — not Halloween. They need projects up again or they’ll get killed after their quarterly earnings calls end of July pic.twitter.com/2Z2MebLcUJ

— Joe Russo (@joerussotweets) July 12, 2023

it is genuinely, on a humanistic level, so absolutely galling to read who I'm sure are incredibly wealthy people just openly admitting, "yeah, we're banking on the workers we rely on losing every single thing they have until they crawl back to the shitty conditions we offer." https://t.co/IvHpOPwcQD

— ✍🏼 roxana | ✊🏼 zivar | ⚒️ hadadi (@roxana_hadadi) July 12, 2023

The AMPTP thinks writers make enough to own a house?!?!

Quick, ask them how much a banana costs!

— Bitter Script Reader (@BittrScrptReadr) July 12, 2023

WE CAN DO THIS ALL DAY pic.twitter.com/KE1VzFI1o1

— Jeff Topolski (@JeffTopolski) July 12, 2023

Writers after the studios say they won't negotiate with the WGA again until everyone is out of money pic.twitter.com/YNFzWvMvwr

— Ben Crew (@BenjaminCrew1) July 12, 2023

In the increasingly mega-merged and hedgefundified Hollywood, these companies live or die on their quarterly earnings reports. It only takes one bad quarter for their stock price to plunge, putting the company and the CEO’s job in jeopardy.

— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) July 12, 2023

What happens is they run out of product. No new shows in streaming to drive and sustain subscribers. No new shows in broadcast and ad-supported to bring in ad revenue.

No shows, no money.

No money, bad earnings report.

Bad earnings report, bye-bye stock price. Bye-bye CEO.

— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) July 12, 2023

If they make a deal soon, they might be able to weather it. Stretch out releases. Rush some new stuff through.

But the longer they keep us out, the longer that pipeline runs dry, the more unavoidable a catastrophic dip in new high-quality shows becomes.

And they know it.

— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) July 12, 2023

I’m sure the AMPTP bosses would love to break our union. But they love their jobs more. They love money more. They can’t make that money without us.

And they know it.

Ignore the trades, walk the line, stand together, and win. #WGAStrong

— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) July 12, 2023

I have a weird question for the experts on here: Can a SAG member appear on a show like Masked Singer (as a judge OR a singer) during a strike?