SAG-AFTRA explains use of “interim agreements” during strike

Since SAG-AFTRA’s strike began, with the organization fighting against the Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers (a.k.a. AMPTP) to get better conditions for working actors as well as much-needed protections against creativity-killing A.I. technology, the union has granted a handful of what they call “interim agreements” (not “waivers”) to allow some productions with indie studios not directly affiliated with the AMPTP to continue filming. That decision has proven to be somewhat controversial, particularly in the last few days, with Sarah Silverman specifically calling on SAG-AFTRA to explain why it was making these agreements when the point of the strike was to stop making movies and to show how valuable these striking actors are.

SAG-AFTRA put out a statement saying it was meeting with people like Silverman who had those sorts of questions, and now—via The Hollywood Reporter—it has shared a lengthier statement explaining why these interim agreements are a “vital part of our strategic approach” to the strike. In the note, SAG-AFTRA leadership explained that the terms of these interim agreements “reflect” what the union is looking for in its negotiations with the AMPTP, so, by making these projects, the union can show that its terms are “reasonable and appropriate.” In other words, if the indie studios can handle giving SAG-AFTRA what it wants, then surely the bigger and more powerful studios should be able to as well.

On top of that, SAG-AFTRA notes that making these agreements with independent productions (like A24’s Death Of A Unicorn and Mother Mary, plus Jesus show The Chosen) will encourage them to use union labor rather than “fueling a pipeline of non-union foreign productions.” So, basically, the idea behind these interim agreements is to show that A.) other people have no problem agreeing to what SAG-AFTRA wants and B.) movies can exist without the AMPTP if the producers agree to be cool. The question, then, is whether or not the AMPTP possesses the capacity to be cool.