SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Urges Members To Approve Strike Authorization Against Video Game Companies

Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans and her husband, David Eason, made a huge mistake when they prevented Child Protective Services from interviewing her younger children. Now, the courts have ordered the former MTV couple to bring their younger children, Kaiser Griffith and Ensley Eason, to the CPS office for questioning.David Eason and Jenelle Evans’ troubles with Child Protective Services are far from over. In fact, their recent lack of cooperation in the agency’s ongoing investigation has made things even worse.On October 10, Jenelle was informed by the courts that she is now ordered to comply and must bring her two younger children in for the agency to interview.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses some general plot developments in Season 2, Episode 2 of “Loki,” currently streaming on Disney+. For 30 years, Dan Deleeuw has worked in visual effects, from “The Mask” to “Armageddon” to “Night at the Museum” — but he always had a dream that one day, he might get to direct.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Get ready to unleash your inner chef with AppleTV+’s “Lessons in Chemistry” and learn how to make the perfect lasagna. Adapted from the Bonnie Garmus novel, Brie Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, a scientist turned cooking show host. And for the 1950s, she is a woman well ahead of her time who stands up to the men and system that oppress her.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Tom Oyer, senior vice president of member relations and awards at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, is exiting his post after 16 years, Variety has learned exclusively. On Friday, Oyer shared the news of his departure in a letter sent to colleagues and industry professionals. A beloved figure by Academy members and staffers, Oyer has made vital and notable contributions during his tenure.

Michaela Zee Although Adam Driver portrays legendary sports-car magnate Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann‘s biographical drama, the actor didn’t get to drive one of the 1950s-era replicas for “Ferrari.” Instead, he drove an “open-wheel single seater” that was modified to connect a camera to it. Asked how it was getting behind the wheel of that particular vintage sports car, Driver simply replied, “Terrifying.” “It teleports you back to the time and you realize if you turn left or right the wrong way, then you’re dead,” Driver told Variety at the “Ferrari” North American premiere at the New York Film Festival Friday night.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Jennifer Gamez and Kellie Marsalli were strangers until a chance encounter at AMC Lincoln Square 13 on Friday night. As one ascended and the other descended the escalator at one of New York City’s busiest movie theaters, they swapped friendship bracelets to commemorate being among the first to watch the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” “I was admiring her bracelet selection and her cat shirt,” Gamez, 33, says. Marsalli, 53, wearing a “Lover”-inspired pink suit over a feline-printed top, adds, “That’s the whole thing with Taylor Swift.

This week has been a meteor storm of new revelations about the marriage between Jada Pinkett and Will Smith!

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Activision, Electronic Arts, Epic Games and more.SAG-AFTRA, which stands for the union of Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, had announced its intention to strike against these companies earlier this month.Under the Interactive Media Agreement, companies like Activision, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions, VoiceWorks Productions and WB Games “failed” to resolve the issues that SAG-AFTRA explained to them upon the renewal of their contract.“It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract… the time is now for these companies – which are making billions of dollars and paying their CEOs lavishly – to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career,” president Fran Drescher said in a statement.The vote was almost unanimous with 98.32 per cent of members of the union arguing in favour of strike authorisation. As a result, SAG-AFTRA is able to sanction a strike immediately should negotiations fail between the union and those included in Interactive Media Agreement.The next set of negotiations will occur from September 26 to September 28.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against 10 of the major video game companies. The vote was 98.32% in favor.  A total of 34,687 members cast ballots, representing a voting 27.47% of eligible voters. The guild’s last strike against the gaming companies, in 2016-17, lasted 183 days. The guild, meanwhile, has been on strike against the film and TV industry since July 14.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Media watchdog GLAAD released its Studio Responsibility Index on Thursday, using its annual ranking of queer representation in mainstream films to stand with striking unions SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America. Convening in-person at the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center’s Ed Gould Plaza in Hollywood, leadership from both show business unions, queer talent and GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis spoke of the dangers that work stoppages from the strokes pose to inclusive storytelling.

With the actors’ strike now in its 63rd day, SAG-AFTRA leaders are ramping up their rhetoric against the studio heads, accusing them in the latest issue of the SAG-AFTRA Magazine of “behaving like petty tyrants,” “would-be feudal lords” and “land barons in feudal times.”

Hollywood has been making steady progress toward including more LBGTQ characters into its storylines, according to the latest report from GLAAD, but SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher says that those gains are in jeopardy because of the studios’ intransigence in reaching a fair deal to end the ongoing strikes by actors and writers.

As the SAG-AFTRA strike clocked its 62nd day, and the WGA’s 135th, the former held a massive solidarity march today from Netflix HQ on Van Ness Blvd to the Melrose gates of Paramount to juice guilds’ spirits with the entertainment industry work stoppage running past Labor Day.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA held a massive march and rally outside the Paramount studio on Wednesday, as the union marked 62 days on strike. Union leaders argued that the strike has resonated across industries, as workers stand up to “unchecked corporate greed.” “What’s at stake is bigger than just the entertainment industry,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s executive director. “It’s about the livelihoods of everyone who needs a job to earn a living.” He urged actors to use their voices and authenticity to speak for the broader labor movement.

EXCLUSIVE: Fran Drescher is less concerned with meeting of several showrunners with WGA leadership this week and more concerned with studios and streamers getting back to the bargaining table to make a fair deal.

EXCLUSIVE: After showing her strong support for interim agreements while promoting her film Memory on the festival circuit, Jessica Chastain is backing that up with Dreams, which has received a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement last month. The Teorema pic reunites her with her Memory director Michel Franco and recently finished filming in San Francisco, where some 60 actors and 50 below-the-line crew members were employed for the shoot. Rupert Friend among those featured in the cast.

Tim Burton is sharing his thoughts on AI getting inspired by his work for new creations. Earlier this year, BuzzFeed shared a piece where it prompted AI to “Tim Burton-Ize Disney Movies.”

Michaela Zee Jessica Chastain is encouraging independent producers to sign interim agreements amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. “If a majority of independent producers, come forward and sign the Interim Agreement deal it will show the AMPTP how wrong they are when they say our contract terms are unrealistic or unreasonable,” Chastain wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday.

Ezra Knight has been reelected president of SAG-AFTRA’s New York Local in a landslide victory that also gave his running mates a clean sweep of the election. Knight received nearly 73% of the votes cast in a four-person race for president. His four vice presidential running mates – Linda Powell, Anthony Rapp, Jim Kerr and Liz Zazzi – were also elected.