The Hollywood Reporter
On Monday, top PR firms representing top Hollywood actors had a conference call with SAG-AFTRA officials to go over protocols and best practices for promotion should there be a call for a strike if the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers do not reach a deal prior to the Wednesday deadline.
The conference call, which was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, comes as negotiations are coming down to the wire after a two-week extension that has seen the union and studios battle back and forth on a new contract.
The question of promotion has been looming as the summer movie season continues to grind onward and Emmy nominations are due out Wednesday. While the Cannes Film Festival went off without interruption, with writer-directors promoting their studio projects in their capacity as directors, a SAG-AFTRA strike would throw a serious wrench into PR tours as well as FYC efforts.
San Diego Comic-Con will begin July 20 and will be doing so without its massive studio promotional panels from the likes of Marvel and Warner Bros. / DC Studios, which are skipping their regular Hall H stop, along with Netflix and Universal.
Barbie, one of the biggest releases of the summer, had its premiere on Sunday evening and has several stops on an international screening tour. Ahead of the film’s premiere, from the stage of the Shrine Auditorium, director Greta Gerwig called attention to the fact that her Barbie co-writer and partner Noah Baumbach was not in attendance due to the ongoing Writers Guild strike. She said, “Nothing in Barbie happened without him and nothing in Hollywood happens without writers.”
SAG-AFTRA did not respond to request for comment.
Variety was the first to report the news of the meeting.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
