Ari Emanuel & Bryan Lourd Offer To Step In To Prevent Actors Strike As Studio CEOs Agree To Bring In Federal Mediators
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Last minute calls are being made by Hollywood chiefs to try and prevent an actors strike.
Deadline understands that Endeavor boss Ari Emanuel and CAA chief Bryan Lourd made an offer to help find a pathway to a deal between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP.
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Emanuel contacted SAG-AFTRA leadership last week to prevent a total shutdown if the actors join the writers on strike, and Lourd made similar calls.
“This wasn’t just about stopping a strike, it was about finding a way forward for everybody” a source close to events told Deadline.
The union was receptive to the uberagent Emanuel’s outreach and sought to have him at least close to the process as talks come down in the final hours before the current extended contract runs out at midnight on July 12.
“These are reasonable people,” an insider said of the feedback to Emanuel’s call.
The idea of top agency bosses helping smooth the path to a deal with the actors, rather than the writers, makes sense as there’s still tension between many agents and writers as a result of the standoff between the WGA and ATA.
Early on Monday, we hear that the AMPTP, which is run by Carol Lombardini, suggested bringing in federal mediators to help with the situation.
That move was then taken to studio chiefs including Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav for their blessing. They signed off on the plan.
“If it takes bringing in a third-party perspective, so be it,” the source added.
The move comes as Hollywood is almost entirely focused on whether the actors will strike a deal or will join the writers on the picket lines on Thursday morning.
Bringing in the federal mediators – the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service – could lead to another extension after the two sides already agreed to extend talks after their initial deadline. However, as we understand, nothing has been agreed with SAG-AFTRA on the mediators.
It comes after a furor involving SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, who was pictured at an Italian fashion show alongside Kim Kardashian, days before the deadline.
As Deadline wrote yesterday, AI seems to be one of the main sticking points between the two sides, along with streaming transparency.
Variety broke the news.
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