As the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced a strike last week, joining the Writers Guild of America’s monthslong efforts to cease production work in order to negotiate better working conditions, an interim agreement may allow some independent productions to continue. SAG-AFTRA released a list of 39 productions that have been approved to continue filming Tuesday evening, including faith series The Chosen, about the life of Jesus Christ; David Lowery’s A24 film Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel; and action-comedy film Bride Hard, toplined by Rebel Wilson.
Independently produced and financed films and TV shows may continue production – as long as they’re not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), or Hollywood’s studios and streamers – by applying for an interim agreement, according to the strike notice.
“Members may work on these productions without being in violation of the strike order,” according to Tuesday’s list posted on the SAG-AFTRA website.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the actors’ union national executive director and chief negotiator, said the interim agreement was made public Friday, and SAG-AFTRA received about 150 applications that day. An application, though, does not mean an agreement is automatically granted.
“It’s reviewed by our contract staff to determine if the company really is truly independent of the AMPTP companies and has no video or streamer fingerprints on it anywhere,” Crabtree-Ireland said.
Although the turnaround time for the agreement can take days, the time period fluctuates based on the volume of applications received and a production team’s transparency, Crabtree-Ireland added.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and actress Frances Fisher join the Writers Guild members at a picket line outside Netflix in Los Angeles on July 14, 2023.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
Faith series The Chosen announced on social media Sunday that the show could continue shooting its fourth season, noting that the production agreed to the actors’ union requests and interim agreement. The Texas and Utah-shot series resumed filming Monday and has about two weeks of shooting left to wrap up its fourth season. But it’s more complicated than that. Previous seasons have been sold to CW, Netflix, Amazon and Peacock, but those deals do not apply to the show’s most recent season. New episodes are released for free on The Chosen website and app. Dallas Jenkins, the creator and director behind the series, said all of its cast members are SAG members, including its star Jonathan Roumie who plays the lead, Jesus, and many have shown their support on social media.
“This isn’t actors going rogue against their union’s wishes, this is actors fulfilling their union’s wishes,” Jenkins told Rolling Stone.
Jazlyn Martin, who plays Jackie in the Peacock series Bel-Air, joined the picket lines Monday in front of the Warner Brothers building in support of her fellow SAG actors. As far as indie productions resuming goes, Martin said she doesn’t see an issue as long as it’s done in a fair manner.
“People still need to make art during this time and I don’t think a strike should necessarily stop someone,” Martin said. “I would just say, have it done ethically and have them join the fight as well.”
Examples of work that do not require an agreement include commercials, interactive media (video games), audiobooks, podcasts, short films, and student films. To Crabtree-Ireland, the interim agreement is an example of the power to grant entertainers fair work under contract proposals.
“It really helps show in a very practical way that studios’ claims that our proposals are unrealistic are just bogus. They are positioning and not true,” he said. “Our members who work under interim agreements are actually helping advance the cause, just in a different way.”