SAG Strike Warns Acting Is No Longer A Career Option At Cast Meeting – Variety Pack

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CAA’s Lupita Nyong’o, Vanessa Kirby and Brian Lord were among 500 people who joined a conference call Tuesday with the union.

SAG-AFTRA held an informational meeting of approximately 500 people via Zoom on Monday afternoon.

Among those signed to the contract were actors Lupita Nyong’o, Vanessa Kirby, Melissa McCarthy, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucy Liu, Laverne Cox, Michael Stuhlberg, Paul Walter Hauser, John Huertas and Josh Pence, according to a source.

Also in attendance were CAA’s Brian Lord, Faith France, and Ryan Abboushi, as well as UTA’s Christine Sage and APA’s Chris Heller. Preachers include Mara Buxbaum, Jill Fritzow, Luke Windsor, Brianna Smith, and Cheryl Maisel.

The meeting was chaired by SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree Ireland. The union shared a paper with one of the talking points for the participants. Among its bullet points on revenue sharing, healthcare, retirement, online streaming platforms, and artificial intelligence, the memo states, “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with AMPTP, an acting career will not be an option for future generations of performers and actors already working in the industry.” They will need to pursue other professions to survive.”

Crabtree-Ireland read questions from participants in the chat, including one asking whether SAG-AFTRA members should “opt-out” to cancel streaming services. Although there is no rule on subscriptions, Crabtree-Ireland said leaving a live streamer is one way of showing support for the strike, a source told diverse.

There are two more similar Zoom meetings scheduled for Tuesday, July 18th.

like diverseGene Maddaus reported on July 15 that the biggest sticking point for SAG-AFTRA and its major studios is the syndication’s demand for 2% of revenue generated from streaming shows. The two sides are still far apart on base increases in minimum rates, with studios offering 5%, 4% and 3.5% over the three years of the contract, while the union is claiming 11%, 4% and 4%.