SAG-AFTRA union members officially ratified the agreement that ended the strike against the studios.

The vote was 78.3% to approve the pact versus 21.7% opposed. SAG-AFTRA said 38.15% of members participated in the national vote.

“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership,” said union president Fran Drescher. “They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology. Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract.”

The new agreement gives actors new compensation and benefits, with an “outsized” gain in residuals and a new model for compensation in streaming content. 

The deal also creates guardrails for informed consent and compensation for the use of artificial intelligence.

“The AMPTP member companies congratulate SAG-AFTRA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents historic gains and protections for performers. With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force," the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers said in a statement.

The agreement is effective retroactive to November 8 and expires June 30, 2026.

Drescher looked ahead to the next negotiations with the studios.

“AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle,” she said. “This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”

SAG-AFTRA, the striking union representing actors, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), representing the studios, said they will resume bargaining on Tuesday.

Actors went on strike in July, two months after the Writers Guild of America walked off work, picketing for a new deal.

The writers ended their strike last month and the actors and studios appeared headed towards a deal when the studios objected to a proposal that the studios pay the actors a share of streaming service subscription revenue. The studio executives walked out of talks, citing that proposal.

This week, SAG-AFTRA said it would modify its revenue-sharing demand, cutting the share from 2% to 1%.

The joint statement on the resumption of talks from the union and the studios was very brief and to the point.

“SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will meet for bargaining on Tuesday, October 24th at SAG-AFTRA Plaza,” the announcement said. “Several executives from AMPTP member companies will be in attendance.”

SAG-AFTRA cut short its national convention over the weekend to give the negotiating committee and staff time to prepare for talks.

"While it’s disappointing to have to adjourn the convention early, the Negotiating Committee must immediately get back to the hard work of preparing to secure a fair contract,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said.

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing television and movie actors, said it reduced its demand for streaming revenue-sharing, but that its new proposal was rejected by the studios.

The union also said the offer by some of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors to raise the ceiling on the amount of dues the pay to the union and letting lower-paid members get first crack at residual payments was generous, but not related to the current contract negotiations.

SAG-AFTRA’s demand for 2% of media companies’ streaming subscription revenues was one of the reasons negotiations broke down a week ago. 

In a note to members early Friday morning, the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee acknowledged that the revenue-sharing proposal raised concerns at the studios.

“After several, seemingly constructive sessions, we pivoted from the plan we carefully and responsibly developed over the past year and dropped our ask to 1%. We did so, by restructuring our proposal, tailoring it to address their concerns,” the union said. “They responded by walking out and calling us greedy.”

The union added that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios in the talks, has also refused to counter union proposals on other issues, including minimum wage rates.

Another issue that has surfaced was a proposal by high-profile actors including George Clooney that is worth an estimated $150 million.

The union warned that the studios might be using the proposal to divide union membership, but otherwise embraced the notion.

“We’re grateful that a few of our most successful members have engaged to offer ideas and support,” the union said. “Beyond donating extraordinary sums of money to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation in support of members during the strike, these influential individuals have sought to offer suggestions, in particular with regard to our streaming sharing proposal and the AMPTP's characterization that we are asking for too much. They have contemplated increasing the amount of money that the highest earners contribute to the union via raising their dues.” 

“This generous concept is worthy of consideration, but it is in no way related to and would have no bearing on this present contract or even as a subject of collective bargaining,” the union said. 

“Having said that, their creativity and earnest desire to help solve the impasse are very much appreciated. It is worth noting that the union has a very robust process to include the concerns of every member,” the union said. “The fact that the heads of the networks, streaming companies and studios are open to communicating with them directly is great. But, the executives should not for one second think that they can use the good will of member emissaries to distract us from our mission.”

Talks to end the strike by SAG-AFTRA were suspended amid disputes over revenue sharing and artificial intelligence.

The actors union’s negotiating committee accused the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), of “bully tactics” and distributing misleading information about its proposals.

The AMPTP said that after the union’s proposal on October 11,  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 two sides had med for five days, prompting expectations that the actors union was near a deal, like the Writers Guild of America, which ended its strike and ratified a new agreement. But those were shattered after Wednesday’s talks, with the union accusing industry CEOs of walking away from the bargaining table.

The AMPTP was especially critical of a SAG-AFTRA revenue-sharing proposal, which it claimed would cost $800 million a year by itself.

The union said that during negotiations, it had made “big, meaningful counters on our end, including completely transforming our revenue share proposal.”

The revenue-sharing plan would cost the media companies less than 57 cents per subscriber per year, according to the union, but the studios “intentionally misrepresented to the press the cost of the above proposal — overstating it by 60%.”

While the union claimed the latest offer from the studios was worth less than previous proposals, the AMPTP said its offer included a first-of-its-kind, success-based residual for high-budget SVOD productions; the highest percentage increase in minimums in 35 years, which would generate an additional $717 million in wages and $177 million in contributions to the Pension and Health Plans during the contract term; and a 58% increase in salaries for major role (guest star) performers wages on high budget SVOD programs.

The studios said they also met “nearly all” of the union’s demands on casting, including guardrails around self-tapes, options for virtual and in-person auditions, and accommodations for performers with disabilities.  

In addition, the studios said that they offered substantial protections against actors being replaced by artificial intelligence.

The union rejected those assertions, saying, “These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue your work generates for them.”

The union said it will continue to strike as long as it takes.

“We feel the pain these companies have inflicted on our members, our strike captains, IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts union members, and everyone in this industry,” SAG-AFTRA said. “We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed. We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day.” 

In its statement, the AMPTP said, “We hope that SAG-AFTRA will reconsider and return to productive negotiations soon.”

The Writers Guild of America announced that 99% of its members voted in favor of ratifying the new agreement negotiated with the Hollywood studios.

The writers returned to work last week when officials of the WGA East and WGA West approved the deal. They went on strike and joined picket lines in May.

Terms of the deal included better pay, bonuses for working on successful shows and protections against the use of artificial intelligence. 

"We would not have been able to achieve this industry-changing contract without WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman, negotiating committee co-chairs Chris Keyser and David Goodman, the entire WGA Negotiating Committee, strike captains, lot coordinators, and the staff that supported every part of the negotiation and strike action,” WGAW president Meredith Stiehm and WGAE president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement.

“As our negotiations come to an end, we won’t forget our SAG-AFTRA siblings who have supported writers every step of the way,“ they said. ”We call upon the AMPTP to negotiate a deal that addresses the needs of performers and, until they do, we ask WGA members who can to continue to show up on their picket lines in solidarity.”

Said the group representing the studios: “The AMPTP member companies congratulate the WGA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents meaningful gains and protections for writers. It is important progress for our industry that writers are back to work.”

With the strike over and Writers Guild of America members OKed to return to work, Paramount Global’s Comedy Central said The Daily Show will return with new episodes on October 16.

The show will feature guest hosts through the end of 2023, Comedy Central said. A new permanent host will take over the anchor desk in 2024.

Trevor Noah signed off as host of The Daily Show in December after 7 years. He succeeded Jon Stewart.

Since Noah left, The Daily Show has had a rotating cast of guest hosts, including Leslie Jones, Cedric the Entertainer, Al Franken, Chelsea Handler, DL Hughley, John Leguizamo, Hassan Minhaj, Kal Penn, Sarah Silverman, Marlon Wayans and Roy Wood Jr.

With the Screen Actors Guild still on strike, talk shows and late-night shows are expected to return before scripted programming as they’re covered by the union’s network code. It is unlikely that actors will appear on talk shows before their strike is settled.

The Writers Guild of America said its leadership voted unanimously to end its strike as of 12:01 a.m. PT on Wednesday, allowing writers to return to work while the agreement with the studios is being ratified.

The WGA West Board and the WGA East Council also voted unanimously to recommend the agreement to union members, who will vote on the proposed deal from October 2-9.

The Guild released the proposed contract terms.

The agreement would run from September 25, 2023 through May 1, 2026.

The pact calls for most pay minimums to increase by 5% upon ratification, with another 4% increase coming on May 2, 2024 and a 3.5% bump on May 2, 2025.

Screenwriters’ terms have been improved, with a second step guaranteed when a writer is hired for a first draft screenplay for 200% of the minimum or less.

Screenwriters hired on a flat-deal basis for 200% of minimum or less must be paid 50% of the fee on commencement. 

When a feature-length project is made for streaming with a budget of $30 million or more, the minimum initial compensation for a story and teleplay is $100,000 (up 18% from the current rate) and a 26% increase in the residual base. Combined with the foreign residual improvements described below, this results in a 3-year residual of $216,000 for projects on the largest services, a 49% increase from $144,993 under the 2020 MBA.

The deal also calls for increased foreign streaming residuals and a viewership-based streaming bonus. Netflix’s three-year foreign residual will increase from $18,684 for a one-hour episode to $32,830, the WGA said.

Steaming services also agree to provide the guild with the number of hours streamed for streaming programs. 

In terms of artificial intelligence, the agreement says AI can’t write or rewrite literary material and that AI-generated material will not be considered source material. That means AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit.

A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, but the company cannot require a writer to use AI software when performing writing services.

Studios must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.

With the writers and actors strikes stretching longer than expected, Warner Bros. Discovery said earnings for the year will be reduced by $300 million to $500 million.

In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, WBD said projections it made during its second-quarter earnings call assumed the strike would end by early September.

At this point, the company said, it now expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to be between $10.5 billion and $11 billion, down $300 million to $500 million from earlier guidance.

At the same time, WBD said it was raising its free cash flow expectations to at least $5 billion, with an anticipated $1.7 billion in free cash flow generated in the third quarter. The strong third-quarter performance is partly due to having a hit film in Barbie.

WBD said it still expects to reduce its debt to 4 times earnings by the end of the year, and getting it down to 2.5 to 3 times earnings by the end of 2024.

 After almost 100 days on the picket lines with no signs of progress at all, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) revealed yesterday that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has “reached out to the union and asked for a meeting this Friday to discuss negotiations.”

The ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes are having a devastating impact in Hollywood, where the economic pain is trickling down to behind-the-scenes, below-the-line workers and related service industries. The WGA estimated that the strike is costing California’s economy $30 million a day, but that was before the actors union, SAG-AFTRA, launched its own parallel strike July 14.

FilmLA recently reported that TV drama production in Los Angeles county fell by 63.8% in Q2, while TV comedies were down by 72% compared to the same period last year.

But while news that the two sides are willing to meet on Friday marks the first sign of progress since writers walked off the job May 2, it’s far from a major breakthrough. According to a report from Deadline, Friday’s discussions “are centered on creating committees to examine the issues. The topics at the top of the agenda include minimum staffing, duration of employment, a viewership-based streaming residual and AI.”

In other words, they’re just getting started.

The Penske trade pub reported last month that from the outset, the studios’ plan was to “let the writers go broke” before resuming negotiations in the fall, and that the studios planned to hold their breath until late-October before reaching a deal.

The publication cited one unnamed studio exec saying, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”

But the AMPTP is made up of both traditional studios and streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon and Apple and while they both make TV, they have very different business models and agendas.

Moody’s Investors Service recently estimated that in the end, settling with the unions could cost the studios as much as $400-600 million per year and added that a prolonged work stoppage would hurt traditional TV before big streamers.  

“Television will bear the brunt of a long strike as the implications of the two striking unions will play out more noticeably for TV networks, stations, cable channels...“ Moody’s said. “TV networks, particularly broadcast networks, consistently schedule new primetime shows to begin in the fall. Cable networks vary in their exposure to original scripted content and, therefore, only some are exposed…”

But the analyst added that the least at risk would be global streaming platforms who are “well-positioned financially, have little or no exposure to the declining linear ecosystem and have diverse sources of content — both in terms of production and libraries.”

Indeed, studios with a linear broadcast business to maintain were left empty-handed entering this year’s upfront season where the TV networks try to pre-book ads for the coming year, especially during their buzzworthy new fall premieres.

Instead, they’ve been forced to rely heavily on reality TV for the fall season, largely contributing to a weak upfront sales market this year.

Netflix, meanwhile, recently reported that its nascent advertising initiative had no material impact on Q2 earnings, and with its international pipeline of new content and vast library, it was obvious from day one that the streaming giant was in the best position to weather a prolonged strike. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told investors on the company's earnings call that the streaming giant had upped its free cash flow estimates for the year by $1.5 billion due to lower content spending during the work stoppages.

Michael Nathanson, founding partner of SVB MoffettNathanson, recently told CNBC’s Squawk Box that the strikes play to Netflix’s strengths. “The problem here for the strikers is that it’s going to make Netflix stronger and their competitors weaker,” he said.

While most of the writers’ demands focus on monetary issues the widely-publicized paucity of their dwindling residuals, the issue of artificial intelligence in the creative process has emerged as a much more thorny topic in both strikes.

In May, when the writers walked out, the AMPTP put out a statement saying that AI technology, “raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everybody… Writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted. So it’s something that requires a lot more discussion, which we’ve committed to doing.”

At least, with the two sides finally sitting down at the negotiating table, they’ll be able to start those discussions.

About 2,000 Frontier Communications employees that walked off last Friday in several California communities over a dispute involving the use of non-union subcontractors were back on the job August 25, according to the Communications Workers of America. 

The CWA members went on strike on August 19, objecting to Frontier’s use of subcontractors for buildout work they said was in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the telecom company. Under that agreement, no more than 5% of Frontier’s workforce could be subcontracted.

As part of the new agreement, the union said Frontier has committed to follow the limits of subcontracting as put forth in the collective bargaining agreement, including posting job requisitions for at least a hundred Term Cable Splicer positions; meeting regularly with CWA on the status of the postings; offering union jobs in lieu of contract workers; and utilizing the existing referral program for union members to assist the company in finding qualified applicants. According to the union, the strike ended at  11:59 p.m. PT on August 24, and all employees returned to work on or before August 25. 

“This is a huge victory for CWA members at Frontier who stayed one day longer, one day stronger on the picket line and refused to settle for the company’s excuses and empty promises. It’s proof that we can successfully fight back when we come together, mobilize and build solidarity,” said CWA Local 9510 Executive Vice President Kenny Williams in a press release. 

Frontier officials did not respond immediately to a request for comment, but in earlier press reports said that the dispute had been mainly a misunderstanding. 

“Like most companies, we’re using contractors to fill a gap as we actively recruit new talent in a tight labor market,” Frontier said in a statement to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “Other factors have also pushed us to engage more contractors than normal, like weather-related repair issues, meeting PUC service requirements and employees not willing to meet overtime requirements.”

Telecom companies across the country have been experiencing a worker shortage as fiber build projects grow and the labor pool of skilled workers dwindles. 

Also: Equipment, Worker Shortage Could Delay Fiber Buildout

And though the CWA claimed victory in this dispute, it still is waiting for a new contract with Frontier. According to the Tribune, its previous collective bargaining agreement expired in September 2021, but workers have been without a contract since its last extension expired in April. 

“I am grateful for all of the members of the community who have been persistently supporting CWA members at Frontier and fighting alongside us to protect good jobs and the quality of service our customers receive. Although the issues relating to this grievance are resolved, we are still fighting for a new contract. I have no doubt in my mind that our members are ready, able and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that Frontier provides quality service and good jobs for Californians,” said CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce in a press release.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said it reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, averting a strike that had been called for Monday.

The union said the contract calls for significant increases in compensation to be paid by new media companies at a time when video consumption is shifting to streaming.

The pact also provides for reasonable rest periods, meal breaks and raising the bottom of the pay scale to a living wage, according to the union.

“This is a Hollywood ending,“ IATSE International president Matthew Loeb said. “Our members stood firm. We are tough and united. We went toe-to-toe with some of the richest and most powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world, and we have now reached an agreement with the AMPTP that meets our members’ needs.”

The tentative agreement still must be ratified by IATSE members.

IATSE’s below-the-line workers include camera operators, grips, prop makers, set dressers, makeup artists, editors, script coordinators, publicists and many other job categories key to producing film and television.

“Our members will see significant improvements, but our employers also will benefit,” said Mike Miller, VP and motion picture director for IATSE. “This settlement allows preproduction, production and post-production to continue without interruption. Workers should have improved morale and be more alert. Health and safety standards have been upgraded.”

The labor union representing 60,000 camera operators, makeup artists and other below-the-line production workers has set an Oct. 18 deadline to reach a new agreement with producers. 

Matthew Loeb, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), said his members will go on strike, starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday, if IATSE can't reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). 

Also read: Is the Streaming Revolution About to Get Hit with a Major Production Work Stoppage?

In a statement released by IATSE, Loeb said the union will continue negotiating with AMPTP over "reasonable rest periods, meal breaks, and a living wage for those on the bottom of the wage scale."

But Loeb warned AMPTP Wednesday that it better talk fast. 

“However, the pace of bargaining doesn’t reflect any sense of urgency,” Loeb said. “Without an end date, we could keep talking forever. Our members deserve to have their basic needs addressed now.” 

With numerous new subscription- and ad-supported streaming platforms trying to establish their brands with aggressive original programming production slates, IATSE members say they're being pushed to the limits. 

A near unanimous vote by IATSE members authorized a strike two weeks ago. 

As expected, members of the union representing camera operators, makeup artists and thousands of other below-the-line TV and film production workers voted overwhelmingly to strike Monday.

Around 90% of the nearly 60,000 International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) membership voted. And of those, 98.7% voted to strike. 

“The members have spoken loud and clear,” Matthew D. Loeb, the group's international president, said in a statement. “This vote is about the quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry. Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage.”

Also read: Is the Streaming Revolution About to Get Hit with a Major Production Work Stoppage?

IATSE is complaining about long hours and harsh conditions for its workers, who are stretched thin amid the programming demands of the streaming wars. 

Among IATSE's beefs: No more "Fraturdays," the phenomena of a Friday workday ending on Saturday morning. 

For the major subscription streaming services, the strike comes at a bad time, with SVODs finally catching up on their original programming production schedules after COVID restrictions ground them to a halt last year. 

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which has been unable to carve out a new contract with IATSE, released this statement:

“The AMPTP remains committed to reaching an agreement that will keep the industry working. We deeply value our IATSE crew members and are committed to working with them to avoid shutting down the industry at such a pivotal time, particularly since the industry is still recovering from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. A deal can be made at the bargaining table, but it will require both parties working together in good faith with a willingness to compromise and to explore new solutions to resolve the open issues.”

Around 60,000 video business production workers are set to walk off the job this weekend, with the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) expected to vote to authorize a strike. 

Also read: Is the Streaming Revolution About to Get Hit with a Major Production Work Stoppage?

IATSE is the union that represents makeup artists, camera operators, set decorators and many other workers humming for the video production business, which is still ramping up after grinding to a near halt during the COVID lockdown last year. 

Production demand is exceedingly high right now, with the number of recent streaming launches trying to distinguish themselves with original shows and movies. It is, to a large extent, the long hours serving this high demand that's driving IATSE members to demand change. 

Among other demands, IATSE workers are seeking a 10-hour break between production days, and a 54-hour break on weekends. The latter would put an end to the dreaded “Fraturday” — the dynamic of Friday production ending on Saturday morning. 

“These issues are real for the workers in our industry, and change is long overdue,” IATSE said in a press release published last weekend. “However, the explosion of streaming combined with the pandemic has elevated and aggravated working conditions, bringing 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers covered by these contracts to a breaking point,” IATSE added. We risked our health and safety all year, working through the Pandemic to ensure that our business emerged intact. Now, we cannot and will not accept a deal that leaves us with an unsustainable outcome.”

I wrote recently about one kind of talent war unfolding in Hollywood, over big-name producer/director/writer types and the very different way Universal and Netflix approached recent deals, respectively, with Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight trilogy, Inception) and Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek). 

But there’s a different, much more traditional battle hovering at the edges of the streaming revolution, just about ready to burst forth, fueled by grueling production demands and the not-always-defined way creators are treated, both in front of and behind the camera. 

One element of this blew up this summer when Scarlett Johansson filed suit against the biggest Hollywood media company, Disney, over her compensation for Black Widow. But it’s also manifesting with one of Hollywood’s least glitzy but most fundamental unions, the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE for short). 

On Monday, several of the union’s biggest locals set a strike-authorization vote for Oct. 1, allowing 60,000 members to walk out productions for the media companies that collectively make and distribute most of Hollywood’s films and TV shows. The authorization vote is considered likely to pass, but doesn’t automatically mean leadership will call a walkout. 

If a strike is called, it would hit not just Los Angeles, where most of the union’s members live, but everywhere else the union’s locals operate, which is to say across the country. It wouldn’t directly influence productions in Canada, but IATSE union locals there are unlikely to continue work in the event of a strike.  

“They think they got us by the balls,” Joe Martinez, a visual-effects specialist who’s part of IATSE, told Variety. “We make the product. If we don’t show up to work, what are they going to sell?”

That question is more complicated than it used to be, given the way streaming gives deep access to hundreds of thousands of movies and TV episodes without the limits of legacy distribution systems. New shows are really important, but if they’re not coming, well, there’s something else to watch.  

On top of that, some companies produce programming all over the world, well beyond the direct reach of IATSE’s U.S. contracts. 

Netflix, for instance, is increasingly reliant on international productions in countries ranging from France to Mexico to India to South Korea to fill out its programming offerings. Not incidentally, as Co-CEO Reed Hastings has pointed out, some of those overseas productions have become global hits, from Lupin to Money Heist to Roma. 

Netflix’s production pipeline was affected in the early days of the pandemic, when most filming across the globe halted, but since has refilled to near overflowing, Hastings said in the company’s most recent earnings call. That’s one reason why Netflix can roll out 41 features across the last four months of 2021. A strike would affect Netflix, eventually, but probably far less immediately than some competitors.  

Over at Disney, CEO Bob Chapek said this week at an investor conference that his company has also been refilling its production schedule, though he warned it would remain a little bit light through Q4. Help is on the way: 61 movies and 17 series are in production for Disney Studios. Over at the TV group, 200 productions are underway with “hundreds” in development. 

Chapek was trying to calm investors concerned that the pandemic’s Delta variant surge might hurt his company’s many distribution outlets. Given the importance of streaming to the company’s bottom line – both Disney Plus and Hulu are among the biggest services out there – Chapek badly needed to send those signals amid a softening stock market. 

But Chapek also sent another signal that likely was not well received by Johansson, her agents, lawyers, and, as they like to say in lawsuits, others similarly situated. 

“As we always have, we will compensate them fairly, per the terms of the contracts that they agreed to us with,” Chapek said. That doesn’t sound like kiss-and-make-up language to me, but then again, Johansson’s Black Widow is (spoiler alert) dead. So maybe Chapek can afford to play a little more hardball in this uncomfortably public case (Disney is trying to move it to closed arbitration). 

In other cases, reports are that Disney adapting its deals to a new era for its most valuable ongoing relationships. Emma Stone got a hefty upfront payment for a sequel to May release Cruella, and Jungle Cruise-rs Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt weren’t left up a crappy creek without a paddle for their inevitable sequel either. Worth noting: both films had PVOD releases alongside their theatrical runs too.   

At this week’s Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, Chapek said Disney's deals undergirding many of his company’s current films are outdated.

Most were signed years ago (Johansson’s was inked in 2017), before most of Hollywood had launched modern SVOD services, and certainly long before the pandemic made subscribing to and watching those services essential in most U.S. households. 

Because those older deals no longer reflect the industry’s evolving streaming-first business structure, a “reset” is underway, Chapek said. The challenge for his business affairs attorneys is to figure out how to “bridge the gap” between the old structure and what’s becoming the streaming era approach pioneered by Netflix years ago.  

That means top talent—like the Johanssons, Johnsons, Stones, and Nolans of the world—can expect much higher upfront payments, but little of the box-office bingo that characterized stars’ deals the past couple of decades.  

Johansson sued because her deal was based on a share of box-office gross, a typical provision for a big star, but a bad metric when many theaters were closed and many theater goers weren’t going regardless of the film. Given the alternative to watch through the Premium VOD window on Disney Plus, those viewers spent more than $125 million, money Disney didn’t have to share with theater owners, or Johansson, a lawsuit filing revealed. 

In fixing other talent deals now, Disney is “doing the right thing… because they need talent,” said Endeavor CEO Ari Emmanuel, one of the town’s most powerful agents. 

That’s good. The Johansson suit is an instructive case about what’s happening at the top of the Hollywood pyramid. But down at the bottom, what’s happening with IATSE might be even more important. 

After all, sure, your film would really benefit from Scarlett Johansson as its star. But even with ScarJo on the poster, does your film get made without camera operators, editors and other essential production talent who are part of the IATSE contracts? At least that’s the bet the union is making with its saber-rattling strike authorization. 

The streaming revolution has, of course, sent Peak TV skyward to a whole new altitude. 

In turn, for the worn-out legions of workers making all those shows, it’s meant brutal production schedules, 15-hour workdays, corner-cutting on meal breaks, and similar challenges. The union wants better accommodation for breaks and turnaround times between production hours, but is getting stonewalled by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represent the studios (and Netflix and Amazon).

It’s way too early to predict an IATSE strike. The organization has never struck before, unlike such higher-profile organizations as the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild. 

But wearing out that behind-the-camera talent, especially amid the additional challenges of the pandemic, and pandemic production requirements, is going to matter too. Yes, we have plenty to watch on our streaming services. But this festering labor dispute might be even more important to watch over the next few months as Hollywood continues to adapt to the future. 

The union representing about 1,800 Charter Communications technicians in New York are stepping up their efforts to force the cable operator back to the negotiating table, reportedly spending $3 million in an all-out campaign to get customers in the area to switch providers.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 has been on strike at Charter since March 2017. The union local, which has been without a contract since 2013, is embarking on a campaign including direct mail, TV, print and digital ads, as well as hiring individuals to knock on Charter customer doors to try to convince them to switch. As part of the ad campaign, the spots reportedly show how much customers can save if they drop Charter service and subscribe to streaming video services.

News of the campaign was first reported by the New York Post. 

IBEW members walked out nearly two years ago complaining of poor working conditions and plans by Charter to take over its pension plan. The union has attracted support from several prominent local and state politicians, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who participated in a union rally against Charter in December.

Charter has denied the union’s claims, adding that it provides superior service backed by an 11,000-person highly trained New York state workforce.

“This campaign is basically telling people to choose inferior broadband, poor customer service and no NY1 or Spectrum Networks, effectively punishing themselves and their families for the union’s insistence on control over employee retirement funds,” Charter said in a statement.

IBEW Local 3 business manager Christopher Erikson did not return a phone call for comment. But he told the Post Dec. 10 that the union believed it necessary to “hit them where it hurts” because of what he characterized as nearly two-years of “union-busting” tactics.

Charter, in a statement, said it has been negotiating in good faith with the union over the past 20 months and “we are incredibly disappointed that despite our best efforts and numerous offers, the union continues to block an agreement. Charter has offered significant concessions to end the strike — including addressing the union's two biggest concerns, bringing strikers back and making payments into the union's benefits plan. Nevertheless, we remain committed to investing in our first-class workforce and delivering superior products and service to our customers.”

While a six-month strike by The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers against Charter Communications rages on, CBS said it has reached an early contract renewal agreement with the union, covering about 3,500 technicians across the country.

In a statement, CBS said the extended contract has been ratified by the affected workforce and will be effective Feb. 1, 2018 through April 21, 2021. The current IBEW agreement was set to expire on Jan. 31.

Major provisions of the new, multi-year contract include pay increases, increased benefit contributions and a path forward for new media.

“The skilled professionals of the IBEW are proud of our partnership with CBS, and this agreement reflects our joint commitment to good jobs and broadcasting excellence,” IBEW president Lonnie Stephenson said in a statement.

The IBEW represents CBS workers in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and Atlanta, in addition to supplying a skilled workforce for all events televised on CBS Sports and CBS News.

“We are very pleased to have reached this new agreement ahead of schedule,” said CBS chair and CEO Les Moonves in a statement. “Our new deal is indicative of the terrific working relationship and cooperation between CBS and the IBEW as well as our ongoing commitment to its highly skilled technicians.”

Related: Moonves Snags 22% Raise

About 1,700 Charter Communications workers in New York and New Jersey, members of IBEW Local 3, walked off the job on March 28, claiming they have lost benefits and endured shoddy working conditions ever since the cable company purchased Time Warner Cable in 2016. Charter has denied the accusations, adding that it has offered employees a 22% increase in wages – and up to 55% for some workers – as well as participation in a 401(k) plan with a dollar-for-dollar match up to 6% of eligible pay. On Sept. 18, IBEW workers participated in a rally in Brooklyn and Manhattan that included speeches by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

As a strike by more than 1,700 union-member employees of Charter Communications' Spectrum cable and broadband operations in the New York City area passes the six-month mark, a union-backed demonstration Monday in Brooklyn and Manhattan drew thousands of the sidelined workers and their supporters, news outlets reported. The hashtag #SpectrumStrike was a top trend in New York City Monday afternoon.

The strike, largely over economic issues such as pension and health-care benefits, is with Local 3 of the IBEW, which called for the demonstration. News reports and photos on social media showed attendance by members of several other unions, though, and speakers included New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio along with other elected officials. "You attack one, you attack all of us," the IBEW quoted the Democratic governor as declaring at a rally at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan.

READ MORE: More Outages as Charter, Union Continue Stalemate

During the strike, there have been outages said to be from more 100 cuts to fiber optics, which Charter pointed out was reported again Monday by the local CBS News station in a piece that also criticized Cuomo and de Blasio for backing the strikers. (Spectrum News NY1, the local Charter-owned news outlet, did not appear to have any links to coverage of the demonstration on its home page or its Twitter feed Monday evening.) 

The ralliers first assembled on the Brooklyn side of the East River and marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. Some on Twitter said as many as 10,000 people attended the demonstration and march. 

The photo above was tweeted by Staten Island borough president James Oddo, a Republican, who also tweeted, "Hey 84 SI families impacted by #spectrumstrike you have lots of support here in Brooklyn. #nowitsafight nowitsafight."

READ MORE:New York Mayor Offers Help in Charter Strike Talks

A Spectrum spokesman released the following statement: "By keeping bargaining unit employees out of work, Local 3 is denying them an average wage increase of 22 percent — some employees up to 55 percent — and also denying them excellent health and retirement benefits, including a 401(k) savings plan with a dollar-for-dollar match up to 6 percent of eligible pay. This will have a positive, lasting impact on employees’ standard of living and allows us to grow a well-paid, highly skilled workforce for the benefit of our customers."

As MCN has reported previously, IBEW Local 3 has been without a contract since 2013. According to reports the union has said since Charter took over Time Warner Cable the company has tried to stop contributing to member pension and health plans; Charter has denied the pension claims. The union also claims that Charter wants to eliminate overtime pay on weekends and reduce the number of paid holidays, and give it greater flexibility to subcontract work normally done by bargaining unit employees.

Charter Communications may have promised President Trump it would add 20,000 new jobs over the next few years, but at least 1,700 of the cable operator's employees in New York and New Jersey walked off the job Tuesday, claiming they have lost benefits and endured shoddy working conditions ever since the company bought out Time Warner Cable in May.

The workers, former Time Warner Cable workers ranging from warehouse employees to field technicians, are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 and say they have been without a contract since 2013.

According to The Daily News, the union claims Charter wants to stop contributing to workers’ pension and medical plans. The company, according to the article, denied the pension claims but said it has proposed increasing employee compensation and offering “competitive and robust” health and retirement benefits.

“Spectrum's primary objective is to provide great service to our customers, and we believe fairly compensated field technicians are critical to that objective," Charter VP of field communications Rich Ruggiero said in a statement. "This is why Spectrum is offering our field technicians an even larger pay increase than the union has demanded, along with competitive and robust healthcare and retirement benefits.

"Spectrum made this offer on Feb. 12 and didn't receive a counterproposal from Local 3 until two days ago (March 26)," he continued.  "We believe this greater compensation to be more beneficial to our employees than continuing to fund the failing union-managed benefits program. We have a solid contingency plan in place and don’t expect customers to be impacted by Local 3’s actions.”

The strike comes days after Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge met with President Trump to announce its plans to invest $25 billion in network upgrades over four years. The company also reiterated a pledge to add up to 20,000 new workers over that same period. 

The six-week long strike at Verizon Communications will drive broadband subscribers into negative territory in the second quarter, chief financial officer Fran Shammo said at an industry conference Tuesday.

About 46,000 Verizon wireline employees went on strike on April 13 over pay and healthcare issues. The walk-out lasted about six weeks, with the unions involved and Verizon management agreeing to a tentative pact in May. The contract still needs to be ratified by the rank and file, which is expected on June 17.

At the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Technology, Media & Telecom conference in London on Tuesday, Shammo said that because most of the striking employees were in maintenance and installation units, new service installations were drastically reduced during the work stoppage.

“Net additions of wireline will be negative for the quarter,” Shammo said. “Our employees will be back to work, we're doing installations for the month of June, so I don't actually know the exact number that we'll end in the quarter because now we're in catch-up mode. Because we did have a pipeline built during the strike, it's a matter of how much we can get to that pipeline, but I would expect broadband [additions] to be negative.”

Shammo wouldn’t comment directly on a report in the Wall Street Journal that Verizon was readying a $3 billion second round bid for Yahoo’s web assets, but said that the company has embarked on a mobile-first strategy with its purchase of AOL last year and the launch of its go90 free mobile video service.

Shammo said in the next three-to-six months, Verizon intends to “cross pollinate” its products, including integrating go90 and AOL to help it broaden viewership.

“When you get down to it, viewership matters because viewership drives advertising dollars, which drives the top line revenue,” Shammo said. “Yahoo has viewership. We’ll see whether we do move forward or we don’t move forward.”     

Verizon said that thousands of customers have lost service in the past "few days" as "criminals have damaged or destroyed critical network facilities."

The company did not point any fingers, but did point out that the damage coincided with a strike called last week by CWA-IBEW and involving East Coast wireline workers, though it did say the impact of the strike was minimal.

Verizon said there had been at least 24 incidents of sabotage over the past week in five states, including New Jersey, Massachusetts Pennsylvania, New York, all strike-affected states.

“We will find out who’s behind these highly dangerous criminal acts and we will pursue criminal charges,” said Michael Mason, Verizon’s chief security officer, in a statement. Verizon offered a $10,000 reward for arrest and prosecution of the saboteurs. “These perpetrators are putting lives at risk and these dangerous acts need to stop,” said Mason.

Among the damage, according to Verizon, was:

• "Sliced fiber optic cabling at a network facility box in New Jersey that cut services to customers and local emergency personnel, including police and fire departments.

• "Sabotage in Massachusetts in which phone services were cut off for customers for 16 hours.

•" Cut fiber optic and copper cables in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York that disabled voice communications and internet connectivity."

"That sounds very serious. I hope they catch these criminals soon," said a CWA spokesperson asked about Verizon's troubles.

WASHINGTON — Speaking to New York City’s transit workers union on Wednesday (April 13), Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said he was next headed to the picket line of CWA members striking against Verizon Communications.

He told Transit Workers Union Local 100 that he was joining in "that stand against the greed of Verizon," citing it as the kind of corporate greed his campaign was aimed at reining in.

Sanders has slammed Verizon, accusing it of not paying taxes, though the company has said it pays billions and that any suggestion it does not pay its fair share is untrue.

There were at least three Communications Workers of America-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers picket lines set up in New York. The strike began at 6 a.m. and followed ten months in which the unions and Verizon could not come to terms on new contracts for about 39,000 wireline workers on the East Coast.

WASHINGTON — Two unions representing Verizon Communications workers along the East Coast have set a Wednesday (April 13) deadline to strike against the company.

Among the 39,000 Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-represented employees from Massachusetts to Virginia affected would be workers on the telco’s Fios TV video service, as well as telephone and broadband services.

“Even though Verizon made $39 billion in profits over the last three years — and $1.8 billion a month in profits over the first three months of 2016 — the company wants to gut job security protections, contract out more work, offshore jobs to Mexico, the Philippines and other locations and require technicians to work away from home for as long as two months without seeing their families,” the unions said in announcing the deadline. “Verizon is also refusing to negotiate any improvements in wages, benefits or working conditions for Verizon Wireless retail workers, who formed a union in 2014.”

The unions’ contracts expired in August 2015, and they said it is now time to take a stand after offering “hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings” and still not getting the basic job security they are seeking.

The unions said Verizon is:

• “Offshoring and contracting out even more customer service work to Mexico, the Philippines and other locations.”

• “Cutting job security for all workers.”

•  "Requiring technicians to work away from home for as long as two months, without seeing their families. For anyone trying to balance work and family life, this is impossible.”

• “Refusing to negotiate improvements to wages, benefits and working conditions for Verizon Wireless workers, who formed a union with CWA in 2014.”

• “Freezing pensions at 30 years of service and forcing retirees to pay extremely high health-care costs.”

• “Slashing benefits for workers injured on the job.”

"For years, Verizon has been cutting vital staff — it has nearly 40% fewer workers now than a decade ago,” the unions added.

“Verizon has failed to hire the personnel necessary to properly roll out Fios, the high-speed broadband service that is still unavailable to many of its customers,” the unions said. “In cities like Philadelphia and New York, Verizon has failed to meet the buildout obligations under their citywide cable-franchise agreements.”

Verizon was talking tough in its response, too. The telco countered that it remains committed to a deal, but said the unions would “rather make strike threats than constructively engage at the bargaining table.”

Verizon said it could continue to serve its customers whether of not the unions struck and that it has been preparing for that possibility for more than a year, training nonunion workers to do “virtually every job function handled by our represented workforce.”

Verizon said it has offered:

• “A 6.5% wage increase over the term of the contract.”

• “Access to quality and affordable healthcare benefits.”

• “Competitive retirement benefits, including a 401 (k) with a company match.”

But Verizon also said it is looking to modernize “legacy contracts” that date back decades as it seeks “greater flexibility to manage and utilize its workforce to gain operating efficiencies and better customer experiences.”

As with other telcos, Verizon is transitioning from legacy copper networks to fiber and Internet-protocol delivery.

“Legacy constraints that may have made sense in the Ma Bell era of phone booths and Princess phones don’t make sense in today’s digital world with high-speed connectivity and dynamic customer demands,” Marc Reed, Verizon’s chief administrative officer, said in response to the strike threat. “Union leaders need to realize that there are real issues that will need to be addressed with or without a strike.

“Our goal is to continue providing good jobs with competitive wages and benefits and make the wireline business more successful now and in the future. Union leadership needs to be realistic and work with us to help make that happen,” Reed said.

But if not, said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s wireline network operations, "If a strike takes place, whether it’s one day, two weeks or longer, we are ready.”