Hollywood producers gave the Screen Actors Guild another contract offer in hopes of ending a labor dispute that has lasted for months.
The proposal, which producers called their “last, best and final offer,” came as the two sides ended three days of negotiations Thursday.
SAG, the last holdout among several unions that have agreed to long-term contracts, has opposed the producers’ previous offer, saying it failed to guarantee guild coverage in productions made for the Internet and failed to make residual payments on made-for-Internet content that is rerun online, among other issues.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said the offer provides residuals for several kinds of Internet programming, though it was unclear whether it specifically addressed the guild’s demands. It also said the offer represents a $250 million increase over the contract that expired on June 30.
A message left with SAG spokeswoman Pamela Greenwalt were not immediately returned Thursday night.
“The terms in the offer are the best we can or will offer in light of the five other major industry labor deals negotiated over the past year and the extraordinary economic crisis gripping the world economy,” AMPTP said in a statement.
Producers said SAG has 60 days to accept the proposed three-year contract. Afterward they reserve the right to modify or withdraw the offer.
Producers insist the three-year contract would start when it is ratified, instead of when the last one expired, which would mean SAG would not be able to join with the writers’ and directors’ guilds to increase their bargaining power when their contracts expire in 2011.
The negotiations this week followed months of internal strife at the guild, which fired its national executive director, Doug Allen, earlier this month. Allen had supported holding a strike vote but the leadership change makes such a vote highly unlikely.
The talks marked the first time the two sides met since November.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push โ one that could include paying millions of dollars โ to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist โ Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado โ beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 โ on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More