SAG-AFTRA is about to begin a strike effective at midnight PT on July 14, with actors hitting the picket lines bright and early on Friday morning. But while they will be making signs, marching, and making their voices heard around Hollywood studios as early as tomorrow, there’s a lot the union is ordering them not to do.
Like the WGA before it, SAG-AFTRA ahead of its strike has issued its formal Strike Rules, a memo (obtained by IndieWire) sent to the guild’s over 160,000 members that outlines the dos and don’ts (mainly don’ts) actors should participate in if they want to show solidarity.
Beyond any on-camera work, whether principal or even background or as a stand-in, actors will also be barred from doing promotional work for anything that was made — past, present, or future — under the terms of the TV-theatrical agreements. And as lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland reiterated during Thursday’s press conference, that applies to festivals, conventions, panels, social media, podcasts, film premieres, and more. The full list is below.
So that applies to festivals like Venice or TIFF, next month’s Comic-Con, or even something like “Oppenheimer,” which had its premiere on Thursday right as SAG-AFTRA prepared to announce the strike, prompting the film’s cast to leave in solidarity before the strike was called. Crabtree-Ireland also expected Emmys campaigns to be coming to a close immediately, despite nominations being announced Wednesday.
There are some exceptions, like if you’re doing an autograph signing, or anything that’s not related to specific struck companies or for projects made under the agreements, but if actors have any doubts, they should defer to the union. And the strike rules also apply to performers working under different contracts, including for New Media and low-budget projects, but not to those in the commercial space or other areas SAG-AFTRA covers.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher on Thursday gave an impassioned speech about the lack of respect she and the negotiating committee felt the AMPTP displayed in talks for protecting the livelihood of actors and in portraying working class actors as a key part of the larger labor force. She further explained that SAG-AFTRA is not a strike-happy union and only resorts to a strike as a last resort, but felt that the corporations in charge cannot drastically change the business model without expecting the contract for workers to drastically evolve as well.
“Our heart bleeds that we had to make this decision,” she said Thursday. “But we can’t not get what these members deserve, because it’s only going to get worse. This is where we drew the line in the sand, and it’s a terrible thing to have to do, but we were forced into it.”
Below is the full list of covered services and performing work that must be withheld during the actors strike, plus language included in the memo providing specific instructions to SAG-AFTRA members as well as language to non-members who may hope to join SAG-AFTRA someday about what work they can do during this time.
Principal on camera work, such as:
- Acting
- Singing
- Dancing
- Performing stunts
- Piloting on-camera aircraft
- Puppeteering
- Performance capture or motion capture work
Principal off camera work, such as:
- ADR/Looping
- TV Trailers (promos) and Theatrical Trailers
- Voice Acting
- Singing
- Narration, including audio descriptive services except as the services may be covered by another collective bargaining agreement referred in the Notice to Members Regarding Non-Struck Work
- Stunt coordinating and related services
- Background work
- Stand-in work
- Photo and/or body doubles
- Fittings, wardrobe tests, and makeup tests
- Rehearsals and camera tests
- Scanning
- Interviews and auditions (including via self-tape)
Promotion of/publicity services for work under the TV/Theatrical Contracts, such as
- Tours
- Personal appearances
- Interviews
- Conventions
- Fan expos
- Festivals
- For your consideration events
- Panels
- Premieres/screenings
- Award shows
- Junkets
- Podcast appearances
- Social media
- Studio showcases
Negotiating and/or entering into and/or consenting to:
- An agreement to perform covered services in the future
- Any new agreement related to merchandising connected to a covered project
- The creation and use of digital replicas, including through the reuse of prior work
Performing on a trailer for a struck production or other ancillary content connected to a struck production
*To ensure compliance with the rule to withhold all covered services, members who are also
employed in non-performing capacities should consult with SAG-AFTRA by emailing
SAGAFTRAstrike@sagaftra.org. To the extent prohibited under applicable law, SAG-AFTRA will
not discipline members for purely non-covered work done in other non-performing capacities.
In addition to the withholding of all covered services, the following rules shall apply for
the duration of the strike:
- Members must not cross SAG-AFTRA picket lines, subject to the exceptions outlined in
SAG-AFTRA’s Notice Regarding Non-Struck Work. - Members must instruct their agent and/or other representatives to discontinue
conducting negotiations on their behalf with the studios, streamers and networks for covered services. - Members must inform SAG-AFTRA of all strikebreaking activity by emailing
SAGAFTRAstrike@sagaftra.org. - Members are also bound by any rules or interpretations set forth in the FAQs relating to this Strike Notice and Order. FAQs will be available shortly at
https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/member-faqs.
NOTICE TO NON-MEMBERS: Any non-member seeking future membership in
SAG-AFTRA who performs covered services for a struck company during the strike will
not be admitted into membership in SAG-AFTRA.
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