Hundreds of actors have signed a letter saying they’d rather continue the SAG AFTRA strike over getting a raw deal from the studios.
Negotiations resume today. The studios’ PR let it out that they could walk away and resume in January if they can’t nail down a deal. Sources yesterday said there was “cautious optimism” about settling in the next few days.
What’s on the table if no deal is reached, and the two sides don’t talk again until January? There are massive repercussions.
The biggest disaster would be no TV shows for the rest of the 2023-24 season. Pilot season begins in February of every year. If the strike isn’t settled until January, all planning will be aimed toward a relaunch in September.
More immediately: the Emmy Awards have still not happened for last season. They’re scheduled for January 15th. The Critics Choice Awards are set for the 14th. The Golden Globes in some form are planned for January 7th. They are major marketing tools for the studios, all of them. They would be scuttled if the strike were still on. The studios can’t afford that.
Last night I ran into a number of SAG members at the Project ALS charity dinner in New York. The words “cautious optimism” hung in the air over the crowd. But no one is ready to “cave in.”
