Striking actors heartened by A-listers' support following Clooney summit
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Amid few signs that leaders of SAG-AFTRA and the major studios are ready to resume bargaining, hundreds of striking actors picketed outside Walt Disney Studios and other locations around Los Angeles on Thursday in a show of support for the union's nearly 100-day walkout.
Beneath the entrance to the Disney lot in Burbank, strike captains greeted demonstrators and welcomed them to “Day 98” of the strike.
“We’ll be out here as long as it takes," one strike captain said as car horns honked in solidarity on Alameda Avenue. "It’s the anniversary no one wanted."
Throughout the morning, strike captains called out to “Bob” — as in Iger, chief executive of Disney — and urged him to come back to the bargaining table after talks between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down last week over streaming pay.
Disney representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hopes of an imminent resolution of the actors' strike following a deal that ended the 148-day walkout by members of the Writers Guild of America faded last week as negotiations ended.
Despite the setback, morale was high on the picket line. One guild member walked around passing out red polka-dot gift bags — filled with thank-you cards, bracelets and other goodies — to appreciative strike captains and members of the negotiations committee as they continued to hype the crowd. The guild held several pickets around Los Angeles on Thursday in honor of "Captain Appreciation Day."
Read more: What to know about the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike now that WGA has a deal
“We're disappointed that the CEOs and the heads of the studios decided to walk away from the table last week,” one of the captains, Jordan Mitchell-Love, told The Times. “But we are also really galvanized. It’s been really wonderful to see the outpouring of support and love on the picket lines, especially this week. Because it's very easy to get discouraged when something like that happens.”
A member of the negotiating team, "The Morning Show" actor Shari Belafonte — daughter of Hollywood legend Harry Belafonte — said in an interview that the entire committee was on high alert, frequently checking their phones and ready to dive back into bargaining at a moment’s notice as soon as they got word from the AMPTP.
“That’s what we're waiting for — for them to come back around to give a counter-offer and see what comes up,” Belafonte said.
“They just walked away. … That doesn't seem quite like it's going in a good direction, does it?”
The AMPTP hit a pause on negotiations last week, saying the sides were too far apart on key issues. In particular, the alliance balked at the guild's proposal that streaming services pay actors on a per-subscriber basis, arguing that such a system would cost the companies more than $800 million annually and “create an untenable economic burden.”
“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 studio alliance said in a statement.
SAG-AFTRA leaders fired back, accusing the alliance of "bullying tactics."
The latest Disney picket occurred days after several A-list actors, including George Clooney, Tyler Perry, Ben Affleck, Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson, met via Zoom with guild leadership to discuss strategies to restart negotiations and end the strike, according to sources familiar with the gathering who were not authorized to comment.
During the meeting, the stars presented a plan to the guild that would see Hollywood's wealthiest performers pay $50 million per year in membership dues — effectively eliminating the current $1-million cap on dues. That would amount to a $150-million contribution over the course of a three-year guild contract.
The A-listers also proposed changing the residual structure so that the lowest-billed actors, who might not have as much money, would get paid first and the top-billed actors would get compensated last.
A source close to Clooney who was not authorized to comment confirmed the offer, which was first reported by Deadline.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher responded on Thursday to the stars' "extremely generous" offer in an Instagram video thanking them for their contributions, while letting members know that such a gesture "does not impact the contract that [the union is] striking over whatsoever."
"We are a federally regulated labor union, and the only contributions that can go into our pension and health funds must be from the employer," Drescher said. "So what we are fighting for in terms of benefits has to remain in this contract."
Drescher also addressed the proposed change to the residual model and said that it didn't "hold water" after being analyzed by SAG-AFTRA's negotiating team and attorneys — although she appreciated the "effort and desire to be supportive."
A number of actors on the picket line Thursday were heartened by the A-listers' efforts to hasten a settlement between the guild and the studios. At least one star, "Star Trek" and "Wonder Woman" actor Chris Pine, was spotted Thursday on the Disney picket line.
"I know that most of them ... come from a very normal background. They're not the kid of a famous actor ... at least not all of them are," said striking actor Jason Ko.
"They understand how incredibly challenging this business is. ... And so I think then meeting with the leadership is just ... for them to say like, 'OK, what can we do? How can we help?' Because they have a level of exposure and maybe a familiarity to the studios that most of us don't have."
Another demonstrator, actor Tiffani Richardson, echoed that sentiment outside Disney's headquarters.
"A lot of times, people like to shrug off A-list celebrities, like, 'Oh, they don't care about that. They have money,'" Richardson said. "They probably had to go through their troubles. So I'm glad they're trying to help ... and maybe [the studios] would listen to them more."
Earlier this week, actor Arianna Ortiz called on big-name celebrities to get involved with the negotiations while picketing outside Disney headquarters in Burbank. Ortiz is a working actor who has appeared in acclaimed productions, including NBC's "This Is Us" and the film "Nine Days."
"Where are our movie stars calling for the AMPTP to come back to the table? That’s what needs to happen,” Ortiz said. “Thank you for the donations to the foundations, and to the Entertainment Community Fund, but we need your voices.”
Also seen on the Disney picket lines this week were a giant mousetrap and a poster displaying a Mickey Mouse glove giving the middle finger — in case there were any doubts about striking actors' feelings toward the House of Mouse in this moment.
As Halloween approaches, SAG-AFTRA advised members on its website Wednesday to avoid "inadvertently" breaking strike rules by dressing up as characters from "non-struck content, like an animated TV show." The memo suggested wearing costumes "inspired by generalized characters and figures" — such as ghosts, zombies or spiders — to show the studios they mean business, even on a holiday.
Ko summarized the guild's intentions succinctly: "There's simply not an option for us to back down."
Times staff writers Wendy Lee and Meg James contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
