“Everything Takes Time”: SAG-AFTRA & Studios Search For Common Ground On New Deal

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: “There’s still a lot of work to be done.” That’s the word from a well-positioned individual today on the true state of a new three-year contract between striking SAG-AFTRA and the studios. “There’s a lot of common ground now, and we are building on that,” a studio source close to the talks said of recent movement between the parties. “Details still have to be determined, but we’re heading in the right direction,” a wary guild insider told Deadline, noting at the same time that there is some “significant steps” before a tentative agreement is anywhere near on the table.

The AMPTP, a quartet of studio CEOs and guild leaders have been in direct talks since October 24. Following the sudden suspension of renewed talks by the studios on October 11, this latest round of negotiations came out of a call from Disney’s Bob Iger to SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland on October 21, the 100th day of the strike.

Moving towards Halloween, as a new set of rumors that a deal in the nearly 110-day strike is just a day or two away swirl around Tinseltown, numerous sources on both sides tell us the buzzwords remain “caution” and “optimism.

A studio source advises: “Things are moving along, but everything takes time.” “Anyone who tells you there’s a done deal just doesn’t know what’s really going on,” an industry eminence also warned.