If you ask most people in UK industry how things are going at the moment, they’ll probably tell you it’s been excruciatingly “slow”. It’s supposed to be peak production season, but this summer, the US writers’ strike combined with a crisis in the cost of living has put a brutal squeeze on unwritten and scripted projects.
This week, as the clock ticks on negotiations between US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s collective bargaining agent, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the prevailing thought will be: is this all going to get much worse?
A number of British actors Variety has spoken to say they have not yet heard from local actors’ union Equity about their situation. That’s probably because it’s worked out in real time. Paul W. Fleming, general secretary for Equity, has been in Los Angeles for talks with SAG-AFTRA, which is optimistic about negotiations with the AMPTP. (He’s also visiting New York to meet with theater union Actors’ Equity.)
In a June 23 video update to members, President Fran Drescher said, “We are standing strong and we are going to make a groundbreaking deal.” The union’s contract expires at midnight on June 30, although it is believed negotiations could be extended beyond that date to reach an agreement and avoid strikes.
Fleming, who huddles weekly with his American counterparts, recounts Variety he’s been in town to “find out what we can do to support our sister unions in the United States—both the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA—and how to make sure their claim messages are most likely to have success. ”
London-based Equity has 47,000 members, including actors, singers, dancers, designers, directors, stage managers and voice actors. As the profile of British talent in Hollywood has grown over the past decade, so has the power of Equity.
Numerous issues affecting American artists resonate in the UK. In recent years, concerns about artificial intelligence and self-recorded auditions have been just as rife in Britain. “Those are the big things, but also taking a strong stance to make sure our members get fair compensation for their work and its exploitation in new media – those are very, very strong shared stances,” says Fleming. “Honestly, one reads the SAG-AFTRA claim and it’s absolutely the same issues we’re discussing with producers in the UK”
So, what is the union’s advice to its members in the event of a US strike? “No matter what happens, there will be a strong conversation between [Equity and SAG-AFTRA]”, Fleming assures. “We will ensure that whatever SAG-AFTRA’s position is, it is not undermined by our position.”
In the event that talks go south this week and a strike is provoked, it is highly likely that Equity will advise its members to suspend all work governed by SAG-AFTRA contracts. The gray area – much like the UK writers’ strike situation – is likely to include artists who are both Equity and SAG-AFTRA members with non-SAG-AFTRA contracts with “beaten” companies, such as Warner Bros. Discovery of Netflix.
Paul W. Fleming, general secretary of Equity, at a cost-of-living meeting in London last year.
In the UK, the Writers Guild of Great Britain issued emergency advice to members about this exact situation, which is becoming more common as studios and streamers have set up overseas offices to grow international productions. The agreement so far is that existing writing can continue, but new work is discouraged.
But the work of actors is in many ways more direct than the work of writers. A senior talent agent in the UK with high-profile clients who are both Equity and SAG-AFTRA members says it will be unpleasant to continue working while others are giving up their livelihoods.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, she says an actors’ strike will be “really tough” for the UK. imagine there will be some pressure.
An established European actor who is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Equity alluded to the discomfort faced by the acting community during the writers’ strike: “The only thing that won’t be complicated [if SAG-AFTRA strikes] is that we then strike and don’t have to show up at work. [With the writers strike] some productions that are still running have had to get actors through the back door because the law says we can’t stop working. It was awkward and awkward.”
Max Rumney, deputy CEO and director of business affairs for the British producers’ trade organization Pact, agrees that an actors’ strike “could be more comprehensive than the writers’ strike”.
“With every production you might have one or two writers [in the U.K.], but you can have dozens of actors,” says Rumney. “If one of them goes on strike, it could stop production.”
Still, Rumney notes that while there will be “huge ramifications” for US studio films or TV shows being shot in the UK, productions for local UK broadcasters or independent films should be allowed to continue as most do not employ SAG-AFTRA actors. to have. “The problem arises when you have an actor who is a member of both Equity and SAG-AFTRA,” says Rumney. “If you’re a British producer filming in the UK using Pact-Equity contracts, that’s no problem.”
One of the main questions the exec answers concerns the exemption for SAG-AFTRA’s Global Rule One (GR1), which allows UK producers to use guild actors for local productions, while waiving the GR1, which outlines that “a SAG -AFTRA member must always work under a union contract all over the world.”
“SAG-AFTRA has been awarding those for decades,” says Rumney.
On his website, the union simply said it expects “a strike order will include work for foreign productions under the Codified Basic Agreement and Television Agreement, including work done under a GR-1 memorandum of understanding.” SAG-AFTRA did not respond Variety request for further explanation by press.
As to whether Equity can actually call a strike in the UK, the union will not be able to strike in solidarity as it is an independent union in a different jurisdiction; however, it is currently preparing for a claim around talks with producers’ org pact and the all-important TV contract, which also applies to streaming and was last updated in 2021. A negotiation schedule is being worked on, which will be finalized within the next 12 months. It follows the union’s new agreement for the West End, in which the organization negotiated a 16.7% increase to minimum fares within 24 months (just below the target of 17%, and is considered a major success).
“It’s a considerably more complex process to get a strike mandate in the UK,” says Fleming. “We’re willing to take those kinds of approaches, but we’re nowhere near that position when it comes to the negotiations.”
Rumney van Pact adds that the producer organization has a “collegial attitude” and “good working relationship with Equity”. The director says: “Our agreements operate differently from those in the US and are based on different assumptions.”
One question both sides will soon face in a challenging economic climate could be whether British industry will be prepared to strike when the push comes to shove. “It’s not easy right now because of production and material costs,” says Rumney. “Involvement of people has decreased substantially.”
Here, Equity’s Fleming encourages members to keep an eye on the bigger picture.
“What people need to ask themselves is: what is the short term and the long term? These are big existential questions that we are all looking at: AI, compensation, the labor relations framework itself, distribution, secondary payments.”
“If you want deals to be the best they can be, you have to make sure SAG-AFTRA deals and Writers Guild deals are the best they can be. And that is painful,” says Fleming. “I’m not in any way undermining how painful that is, but we’re not crossing picket lines physically or virtually because it’s not in your best interest to do so.”