SAG-AFTRA Claims Still-Filming Projects Are ‘Vital’ to Strike After Sarah Silverman Slams Union

usmagazine.com:

SAG-AFTRA responded to Sarah Silverman’s criticism over the union allowing certain projects to film amid its strike with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over labor disputes.“Some have suggested that the Interim Agreement might prolong the strike, but we disagree,” the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union said in a statement on Sunday, July 30, via Deadline. “We believe the leverage created by increasing competitive pressure on the AMPTP and denying them what they want most will force them back to the table and help bring this strike to an end.”The statement continued: “We understand the concern that our Interim Agreement may produce content for struck companies to distribute.

We are confident that the terms of this agreement, particularly the streaming revenue share, will make distribution of these projects through AMPTP platforms unfeasible, until such time as an industrywide agreement has been reached.”SAG-AFTRA’s Interim Agreement allows projects such as indie films (more than 40 projects and counting) and several TV shows to keep working as the rest of Hollywood is at a standstill.

The caveat seeming undermines the rules set out by SAG for its current strike, which began earlier this month.The guidelines previously stated that union actors cannot promote any of their struck projects — past, present or future — and must stop all shooting until the picketing ends. (Struck work includes all projects associated with AMPTP’s studios, streaming services and principal broadcast networks.

The AMPTP represents major studios such as Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., while indie studio A24 backs many independent films.