Actors Strike Continues as Negotiations Break Down

Studios said they were pausing talks because they were “no longer moving us in a positive direction”.

“After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction,” the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of the studios, said in a statement.  

The breakdown in negotiations comes several weeks after the Writers Guild of America - which had been on strike for 148 days - reached a deal with studios, which included better royalty payments for streaming content.  

Many hoped the deal would boost chances for an agreement between studios and striking actors, who resumed negotiations last week.  

The strike has left thousands of people without work and halted production of multiple series and films in the US and beyond. 

AMPTP said it ended talks with the actors’ union this week after seeing the latest proposal from actors. The group claimed the plan could cost companies an additional $800m (£650m) a year and create “an untenable economic burden”. 

SAG-AFTRA, meanwhile, claimed in a letter to members that the group overestimated the cost by 60%. The union said its negotiators were “profoundly disappointed” the studios had broken off talks. 

“We have negotiated with them in good faith… despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began,” the union wrote.  

Actors have been on strike over issues including increases in pay for streaming programming and control of the use of their images generated by artificial intelligence.