Actors Strike
Netflix, After Reducing Spend During Strikes, Now Expects Free Cash Flow to Be $6.5B
One week after contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down, Netflix leadership gave an update to Wall Street on the status of the talks to resolve a strike that is nearing 100 days and brought most of Hollywood’s production to a halt. “We want nothing more than […]
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What Lies Ahead for Hollywood? Insiders Weigh In
The actors union and the studios have ceased negotiations for the time being, extending Hollywood’s “summer of strikes” into at least the late fall. Eventually, however, this too must end (right?). And while the town will breathe a much-needed sigh of relief when that happens, the tensions and problems that led the industry to the […]
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Paramount Chief Bob Bakish Is “Optimistic” About a SAG-AFTRA Deal in the “Near Term”
Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Paramount Global, appears confident SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will reach a deal to end the ongoing actors strike. Speaking at the international television conference MIPCOM on Tuesday, where he received the 2023 personality of the year award, Bakish said despite negotiations breaking down last […]
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London Film Festival Closes With ‘The Kitchen’ World Premiere and (Another) Protest by U.K. Crew
The 2023 BFI London Film Festival came to a close on Sunday night in the British capital with the world premiere of The Kitchen, Netflix’s dystopian thriller co-directed by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya in the actor’s feature debut behind the camera. The film, set in a rundown housing project in a near-future London and […]
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Bad Wolf CEO Jane Tranter on ‘Doctor Who,’ Dual Strikes and the “Pandora’s Box” of AI
Jane Tranter, the CEO and co-founder of production company Bad Wolf, knows how to get the industry buzzing with hit titles. The Wales-based production juggernaut, majority-owned by Sony, continues to go strong with the likes of epic The Winter King, based on Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling Warlord Chronicles books, and Russell T. Davies’ Doctor Who series. […]
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ITV CEO on Trialing AI, Impact of Dual Strikes and How ITVX Has “Accelerated” Streaming Ambitions
Carolyn McCall, CEO of ITV, has led the U.K. TV giant since 2018, driving its transformation for the digital age. Freemium streaming service ITVX launched in late 2022 with such originals as Cold War drama A Spy Among Friends, starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce. It has brought the company “over 2 billion streams and […]
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Sheryl Lee Ralph Puts Positive Spin on Emmys Delay Amid Strike: “My Reign Has Been Supreme”
Sheryl Lee Ralph went viral when she sang part of her acceptance speech upon winning the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series last year. Now, with the 2023 Emmy telecast delayed until the new year because of Hollywood’s dual strikes, the Abbott Elementary star is relishing the opportunity to bask in the […]
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Hollywood Unions Call on AMPTP to Resume SAG-AFTRA Talks “Immediately”
Major Hollywood unions are calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to resume negotiations with SAG-AFTRA “immediately,” citing the suffering of industry professionals who are out of work. “Each day a fair contract addressing actors’ unique priorities is delayed is another day working professionals across our industry suffer unnecessarily,” said the Writers […]
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SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Says AMPTP Suspending Talks “Came as a Shock to Me”
The AMPTP’s decision to suspend bargaining talks with SAG-AFTRA “really came as a shock” to the union’s president, Fran Drescher. “What does that exactly mean, and why would you walk away from the table? It’s not like we’re asking for anything that’s so outrageous,” Drescher said in an interview with NBC’s Chloe Melas that aired on […]
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Actors React to Studio Talks Breaking Down After 90 Days of Strike: “It’s Just So Disappointing”
Morale following the breakdown of the negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and SAG-AFTRA on Wednesday evening seemed depleted as actors and supporters walked back and forth in front of Hollywood studios, carrying “SAG-AFTRA on Strike!” signs that have been omnipresent at company entrances over the past three months. Outside of […]
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Duncan Crabtree-Ireland on Why SAG-AFTRA Talks Broke Down: “It Is Mystifying to Me”
One day after Hollywood’s top companies announced that talks with performers union SAG-AFTRA would be suspended for the foreseeable future, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was back on the picket lines at Netflix, rallying members. The national executive director and chief negotiator for the union gave a speech at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, […]
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Ted Sarandos: SAG-AFTRA Talks Fell Apart After Proposal of Levy on Each Streaming Subscriber
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said the talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP fell apart Wednesday because of an additional “levy” the actors union was proposing to put on every streaming subscriber. Sarandos has been one of the four CEOs, alongside Bob Iger, David Zaslav and Donna Langley, who sat in on negotiations with the […]
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