“This Was A Negotiation For The Future”: Fran Drescher & Duncan Crabtree-Ireland On SAG-AFTRA Deal, AI & Informed Consent + Importance Of CEOs

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: “We know that generations from now they’ll be talking about this seminal contract and reaping the benefits of it in the way that we have been for the last 65 years with a contract that was negotiated when Ronald Reagan was in my position,” says SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher of the new contract the actors guild made with the studios on Wednesday after 118 days on strike.

Worth more than $1 billion over the next three years, the tentative agreement has an “extraordinary scope” and is full of “unprecedented provisions,” according to SAG-AFTRA.

While the fine print won’t be made public until the 160,000-strong guild’s board votes on it Friday, we know the new deal includes increases in minimum rates, a streaming participation bonus, new health and pension caps, diversity guardrails, and hard fought for AI protection provisions. RELATED: SAG-AFTRA Lauds New Deal, Valuing It At Over $1B With “Unprecedented” Provisions & “Extraordinary Scope” The recently overwhelmingly reelected Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland were at the heart of the strike and the talks. “This strike was about people who are trying to make a middle class living, and I think when the whole deal is put out in the public and people have all the different pieces of it, they will see that there is an overall commitment to improving the economic viability of a career as an actor in this business,” Crabtree-Ireland notes. RELATED: Studios Say Tentative Agreement With Actors Represents A “New Paradigm” Frequently attacked and underestimated by the AMPTP and others, both the union president and national director were out on the picket lines day after day as well as in negotiations with the CEOs Gang of Four of Netflix’s Ted