Photo Courtesy of Rob Latour

By Jack Kyle ’24

THE ROUNDUP

SAG-AFTRA has started to release Interim Agreements this week, contracts which allow some union members to begin working again. The strike has caused a halt in production for many films and shows including Deadpool 3, Stranger Things: Season 5 and Mission Impossible 9- Dead Reckoning: Part 2

SAG-AFTRA President Ms. Fran Drescher released a statement, reiterating the strict conditions that these agreements enforce on the workers. 

“A key element in our strike strategy is our Interim Agreement, which is being granted to certain vetted and truly independent productions, said Drescher. “Along with the many other nonstruck contracts our members can currently work, these agreements give journeymen performers and crew the opportunity to pay their bills and put food on the table.”

Certain films, such as M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Watchers,” have been granted these Interim Agreements in order to continue production under certain conditions, forcing studios to agree to the demands made by the union in their previous proposal.

Some of these demands include protections against the use of Artificial Intelligence on TV and film productions as well as fair revenue sharing for works that have been moved to streaming services. This adjustment has caused writers and actors to lose a large amount of income, as the residuals that they receive are extremely small. 

The strike began on July 14, after contract negotiations with AMPTP, the producer’s union, stalled, forcing the union’s nearly 160,000 members to stop nearly all production.