SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Says There’s Been “No Formal Exchange” With Major Video Game Companies As Strike Hits Third Week

deadline.com:

It’s been nearly three weeks since SAG-AFTRA called a strike against 10 major video game companies, and so far there’s been no movement to get back to the bargaining table.

The guild’s National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told Deadline on Thursday that “there’s been no formal exchange between the companies and us.” “The negotiators stay in contact during the process, but nothing substantive, unfortunately,” he said. “I certainly hope that the video game companies are not taking a page out of the AMPTP playbook, where they intend to wait months before they come to their senses, and hopefully, as they see the kind of turnout that we’ve had … it will encourage them to get back to the table so that we can find the right path forward,” he continued, reiterating that “these companies are gonna be increasingly isolated as they refuse to have that conversation.” Crabtree-Ireland was on hand with Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee chair Sarah Elmaleh and more than 100 SAG-AFTRA members and allies Thursday on a picket line at the Burbank offices of Disney Character Voices.

It marked the second labor action of the strike, following the first picket at WB Games Inc. last week. SAG-AFTRA is picketing outside Disney Character Voices offices in Los Angeles today in the second labor action since calling a strike against 10 major video game companies last month pic.twitter.com/mnx1pl97cE The picketing strategy marks a departure from last year’s strike, where actors were deployed nearly every weekday across most major studio across New York and Los Angeles.

This is case for several reasons, including the fact that many video game companies are not covered under the Interactive Media Agreement and instead