From Request to Realization: SAG-AFTRA’s Interim Agreements
interim agreements are a path to resolving the strike
Interim agreements are a path to resolving the strike
Interim agreements are one path to ending the strikes #SAGAFTRAstrong #WGAstrong.
They are interim agreements, which are not waivers as they waive nothing and are a possible path to resolve the strike well. They are what we can do right now at this moment to make things better, even as the AMPTP continues to be silent.
Productions agree to all terms the union offered AMPTP when the company agrees to an interim agreement.
That leaves studios/networks/streamers to:
1) force AMPTP to agree to those terms or negotiate new ones so the studios/networks/streamers can:
A — get those productions (that were made under an interim agreement) to distribute them or
B — produce their own,
2) break from the AMPTP and agree to the terms, or negotiate new ones by themselves with the unions so the studio/network/streamer can:
A — get those productions (that were made under an interim agreement) to distribute them or
B — produce their own, or
3) lose money by having no new film or TV for their film and TV business.
Either 1 or 2 helps everyone except any stubborn companies.
1 or 2 even help the AMPTP companies if they’re honest with themselves.
With both 1 and 2, union members get to work with the terms the union reasonably wanted in the first place. And both 1 and 2 add pressure on any stubborn companies.
Separately, it will help companies choose to break with the AMPTP, because companies that abandon the AMPTP can then eat their competition’s lunch. When your competition is stubborn, you get to thrive while they suffer from their own stubbornness.
The transition from interim to permanent is vital, complex and will either be handled well or poorly. But getting to a permanent agreement was always going to be vital, complex and necessary. And it was always going to be handled well (we hope) or poorly (we hope not). These interim agreements move us toward meaningful permanent agreements in the best manner now available.
The purpose of the strike is to get the studios/networks/streamers to agree to the unions’ terms. If the studio/network/streamer wants one of these films or TV shows produced under an interim agreement, then the studio/network/streamer has to agree to the interim agreement as well in the course of making the purchase. That is victory.
Are interim agreements perfect? No. But perfect stopped being an option when we ended up in business with people who refuse to even speak to us.
The AMPTP wants to hurt everyone, we want to have victory. Victory is the unions getting what they ask for.
What’s one way the strike ends? It ends by the AMPTP sitting things out until they either negotiate an out for themselves from a strike they triggered, or they want to buy/distribute something made under an interim agreement, which they’d have to agree to before touching the project.
We’d be helping them harm us by wanting to hurt them instead of wanting to win.
Any company that normally makes TV and film can (and many have) choose to make no new TV and film. And if they do that long enough, if they choose not to make film and TV long enough, they will in fact no longer be companies that make TV and film. If they want to be stubborn and not deal, they can languish in the cold alone forever if they choose that for themselves. These agreements are a path around those foolishly stubborn companies and their CEO's mistakes.
Productions agree to all terms the union offered AMPTP when the company agrees to an interim agreement.
The AMPTP companies are like a confused puppy that doesn’t know how to play well with others.
They were told how to play well with others during negotiations. They didn’t listen. And now they refuse to even talk.
So the union, SAG-AFTRA, has made some interim agreements with non-AMPTP producers that show everyone playing well with others, what the union proposed, isn’t just a proposal but it’s actually how people are already playing well with others.
Is it patronizing for me to all the AMPTP companies a puppy? Yes. They want to weaponize starvation and homelessness against their own workers. They may not like being called a puppy. And I don’t want to hurt them, even their feelings, even as they are giving people the silent treatment. Their behavior is not that of mature or well-intentioned adults. Weaponizing starvation would get them called war criminals and dragged to The Hague if this were an actual war. So puppy is the least bad thing for them to be called.
They wouldn’t learn by being told, so now they’re being shown. I hope they learn how to play well with others. Both unions remain, as they have been this whole time, open to talking.
#ActorsStrike #WritersStrike
No need to guess what the interim agreements may say:
There’s a PDF sample of an interim agreement publicly available.
And more details on the SAG-AFTRA interim agreements can be found here: https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/interim-agreement
© Copyright July 31, 2023, David August, all rights reserved davidaugust.com
David August is an award-winning actor, acting coach, writer, director, and producer. He plays a role in the movie Dependent’s Day, and after its theatrical run, it’s now out on Amazon (affiliate link). He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, on the TV show Ghost Town, and many others. His artwork has been used by multiple writers, filmmakers, theatre practitioners, and others to express visually. Off-screen, he has worked at ad agencies, start-ups, production companies, and major studios, helping them tell stories their customers and clients adore. He has guest lectured at USC’s Marshall School of Business about the Internet.
