Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Reveals Why Talks Broke Down With SAG-AFTRA
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos has claimed that SAG-AFTRA asked for a levy on every subscriber to streaming service, which led to the breakdown in talks to end the actors strike.
“Last night, they introduced a levy on subscribers on top of [other] areas,” the Co-CEO said. He called it a “bridge too far”.
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He said that the AMPTP offered a success-based bonus to the actors, similar to the offer that the WGA accepted, but that was rejected and SAG-AFTRA came back with the levy proposal.
Speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime event, he said its success-based proposal would cost four to five times as much as the one it offered the WGA because of the number of people involved.
“This has been a very difficult time obviously… the goal here is to get people back to work,” he added. “This is not just hurting our industry, it’s hurting every other industry, and not just in California.”
When Sarandos walked on to the stage, he joked, “How’s your week going?”. The moderator said that after the WGA deal was struck, he thought the actors strike would end soon. Sarandos replied, “Me too”.
It comes after talks between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA broke down last night and were “suspended”.
The studio alliance said that the “gap” between the two parties was “too great” and “conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction”.
The AMPTP published a list of areas where it considered that it offered heft increases including on wages and AI protections.
SAG-AFTRA later shot back, accusing the studios of “bully tactics” and using the “same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA”.
“We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed,” it added.
Sarandos, speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime event, was the latest exec who was around the table to be asked about the negotiations.
NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley said, “We’ve been spending time with the actors and we want to spend as much time as it takes to reach a resolution and get back to work.”
Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel also weighed in last night, urging the studios and actors to get a deal done even if it means getting “half a loaf”. He added, “You’re not winning an Oscar for this negotiation”, which was taken as a slam against SAG-AFTRA chief Fran Drescher by many.
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