Latest news with #Crabtree-Ireland
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA's Chief Negotiator Is Open to White House Efforts to Boost Movie Production In U.S.
SAG-AFTRA's national executive director and chief negotiator has weighed in on President Donald Trump's idea to apply tariffs to films produced outside the U.S. — and signaled an open mind about it. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the staff leader of the 160,000-strong performers' union, said in a statement on Monday that 'SAG-AFTRA supports efforts to increase movie, television and streaming production in the United States.' Crabtree-Ireland noted that the union will continue to 'advocate for policies that strengthen our competitive position, accelerate economic growth and create good middle class jobs for American workers.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Employees at Austin Alamo Drafthouse Location Vote to Unionize California, Once a Mecca for Animation Work, Is Rapidly Losing Ground, Report Claims Production Assistants, Seeing Work Dwindle, View a Union as Their Future The labor leader added that the union is looking forward to learning more specifics of the plan and to 'advancing a dialogue to achieve our common goals.' Crabtree-Ireland is the first out of the gate amongst Hollywood's labor leaders to publicly respond to the notion that Trump put forward in a Truth Social post on Sunday. At the time, Trump called for a '100% tariff' on 'any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.' Trump did not mention television shows or digital media projects in his post. The White House later walked that assertion back a bit, with a White House spokesperson telling The Hollywood Reporter that 'no final decisions' have been made regarding the tariffs idea. Hollywood industry leaders, including some in labor, have been reeling following Trump's Sunday announcement. Several unions had been working on potential legislation to create a federal tax incentive for U.S.-produced projects and were focused on that effort when Trump's tariffs message came through. More to come. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA Chief Lays Out What A.I. Protections It Will Be Looking For In Its Next Studio Contract
Artificial intelligence was a major factor in the actors strike of 2023 and the burgeoning technology will remain a key element in next year's negotiations. SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has laid out some of the guilds plans ahead of its contract with the studios expiring in June 2026. More from Deadline SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland On Why Studios And Streamers Are Taking "A More Tempered Approach" To AI SAG-AFTRA's 'Rock The City' Event Saluting New York Industry Draws Top Elected Officials SAG Awards Sets 2026 Date & Timeline Speaking on a Deadline-moderated panel at SeriesFest in Denver, Crabtree-Ireland, who is National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator at SAG-AFTRA, revealed that the guild would be 'starting our preparations for negotiations this fall'. He said that he believes that A.I. will be an important factor in these talks. 'I'd never prejudge it, because our members – we're a member driven organization – decide what our priorities are going to be. We didn't get everything that I would have wanted [in 2023], or that they would have wanted in that negotiation. This is evolving over time. In the commercial contract deal we just got, we achieved, for the first time, a contractual limitation on the use of our members' work for training A.I. systems. That's not something we have been able to achieve in any prior contract until just now,' he said. In SAG-AFTRA's TV/Theatrical Contract, it scored protections against the studios and streamers using artificial intelligence in a way that would result in job losses or infringe on performers or as Crabtree-Ireland calls it 'consent and compensation'. In the 2025 Commercials Contract that was just approved by SAG-AFTRA's National Board, it secured protections forcing advertisers or agencies to ask SAG-AFTRA permission before they can authorize any third parties to use such material to train an A.I. system. 'We would have liked to have had that in the TV theatrical agreement. We weren't able to achieve that despite being on strike for over four months. But I think now as this industry evolves, as the use of the technology evolves, and as our contracts evolve, we may be able to make progress in areas where everyone was just too, frankly, scared to reach agreement before, and we really want to see that. There's a lot to improve upon, even though those guardrails and guidelines have become so important, and I think have served our members very well, but we're always in the mood of improving our contracts every time,' he added. Crabtree-Ireland was talking alongside Scott Mann, Co-CEO & Founder, Flawless and Nikola Todorovic, Co-Founder and CEO, Wonder Dynamics. He agreed that the studios and streamers have taken a relatively cautious approach to the use of A.I. in the last 18 months. SAG-AFTRA has sat down with these companies a few times since the deal to discuss A.I., as laid out in its contract. 'It's been a much more cautious uptake than I had initially expected. I do think part of that is driven by the contractual limitations and rules that we've got. I think probably a big part of it is, during the strikes, it became really apparent that the public is also very concerned about what A.I. means, and I think these companies are thinking about what the ramifications are for their relationship with their consumers as part of rolling the stuff out and trying to avoid making missteps, which, frankly, I appreciate. Because I think if we work together on this rollout, it can be much better than it would have been in some sort of gold rush,' he added. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery Brad Pitt's Apple 'F1' Movie: Everything We Know So Far Everything We Know About 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 So Far
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland On Why Studios And Streamers Are Taking 'A More Tempered Approach' To AI
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland hasn't had much time for victory laps. The National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA played a key role in settling the 2023 actors strike, after months of intensive bargaining, picketing and rallying of the troops. One of the key provisions of the landmark agreement pertains to a thorny issue for union members that continues to keep Crabtree-Ireland on the move: AI. SAG-AFTRA secured protections against the studios and streamers using artificial intelligence in a way that could result in job losses or infringement on performers. Creating and reinforcing guardrails around AI is a mission that Crabtree-Ireland connects with personally, as deepfake videos of him began circulating in 2023 at the height of the labor strife and amid the unsettling arrival of ChatGPT. Along with advocating for the federal No Fakes Act, a bipartisan bill now working its way through Congress, Crabtree-Ireland was an active presence at major tech conference CES last January in Las Vegas. He took part in panels about AI at the main convention as well as at the Labor Innovation & Technology Summit, an event co-founded by SAG-AFTRA, the AFL-CIO and the AFL-CIO Tech Institute. More from Deadline Meta Chatbots Using Voices Of John Cena & Kristen Bell Got Sexually Explicit, Even With Minors - Report SAG-AFTRA's 'Rock The City' Event Saluting New York Industry Draws Top Elected Officials Washington Post Teams With OpenAI To Make "High-Quality News More Accessible" Via ChatGPT In this conversation with Deadline Business Editor Dade Hayes about his view of AI's spread throughout the entertainment industry and beyond, Crabtree-Ireland talks about changes in the atmosphere since 2023; studios' more 'cautious' approach to the technology; and SAG-AFTRA's ongoing efforts to resolve its 10-month strike against video game publishers. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length. DEADLINE: At CES, you called AI 'a tool and also an existential threat.' Based on my observation and also what sources have told me, it seems that the sentiment is shifting a bit more toward the former. Would you agree? DUNCAN CRABTREE-IRELAND: I think that's right. When we think about AI, I think people forget that so many people didn't know anything about it in late-2022 and early-2023. ChatGPT only was released to the public in November 2022, and at that point we had been working on the issue for quite some time. In fact, I was preparing to deliver my first public presentation on AI and the entertainment industry and its potential impact, which happened to be the first week of December 2022. The reaction to those concerns at the time was that a lot of people really didn't get it. They didn't understand why it was important or the kind of impact it could have. I think that the public dialogue we had in 2023 did alert people to the importance of this issue and got people to recognize that the impact is very real. I know there are people who feel that maybe people are overly paranoid or whatever. I really feel that people are not overly paranoid about it. In fact, it warrants real attention and caution. It's not to say it has no value or benefit; clearly, it does have value and benefit. But we must not forget that even some of the people on the forefront of AI on the tech side are concerned about the potential ramifications of AI if it's not properly governed and regulated. So, I think that people in general do see that this is a tool that can have some beneficial uses, but that has to be carefully scrutinized and that we all need to be part of that conversation. We can't leave that conversation to AI companies or just tech companies and let them drive that discussion because they are more focused on 'what can you do and how can we do it faster than anyone else' rather than 'should we do it at all?' and 'if we should, should we do it faster or slower?' DEADLINE: Does the greater awareness of the risks extend to the studios? CRABTREE-IRELAND: No one will ever know how much this is the result of the 2023 negotiation and strike, but the studios in my opinion generally have been taking a relatively cautious approach to developing and moving forward with plans related to AI. At least, that's my impression from the many, many conversations that I've had with people all across the industry, and I think that's a really good thing. Because really, when you stop to think it through and you don't just knee-jerk react and say, 'OK, you can do this so let's just do it,' then you can see some of the unintended consequences that you might not otherwise notice. So, I do think that a more tempered approach to considering the implementation of AI works in the interests of the industry as a whole and certainly in the interests of workers and creative talent. DEADLINE: That's really interesting. I am definitely hearing more notes of pragmatism and measure in the public comments in recent weeks from the likes of Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios Chairman Donna Langley. Still, money is continuing to flow into the space, especially to fund small, boutique companies – how do you and your colleagues track all of the startups and look to engage with them? CRABTREE-IRELAND: Well, soon as they hit our radar, generally, we reach out and we try to meet with them just so that we can understand what they're doing and, frankly, so we can also introduce ourselves in our real role and capacity, not what sometimes people may perceive. Which is wanting to really help companies find a way to put appropriate plans in place that are talent-respectful – not designed to stop them from being able to experiment and pursue their business, but to do it in a way that works with talent instead of against talent. A lot of the time I don't think it's malicious or malevolent. It's just not really understanding the potential impact of what they're doing. I find that to be true across a number of fields, including the tech and the AI companies themselves, the companies that are taking AI foundational models and tools and using them to implement tools that are done directly and used by the creative talent or others in the industry. And even just industry companies that aren't tech companies that are just being pitched with capabilities that they don't necessarily fully grasp. DEADLINE: SAG-AFTRA's strike against video game companies is approaching the 10-month mark. You have gotten dozens of companies to sign an interim agreement, but is there any chance of a full resolution anytime soon? CRABTREE-IRELAND: I hope so. I mean, I think anytime the parties are talking there is room for hope and cautious optimism, and we have been engaged in talks with the bargaining group recently. And that process is ongoing, so obviously we would love to bring the strike to close. I mean, I would've loved if it had not been necessary in the first place. But as you probably know, this particular strike the video game strike is entirely about AI. It's not that there are other issues that we haven't been able to find agreement on. We've been able to deal with the question of wage increases, the question of safety, and issues of working conditions, so this is entirely focused on AI. It's been very, very difficult because from my point of view, the companies have been unwilling to embrace the same philosophy that everybody else in the entire entertainment industry at large has embraced. Having said that, we are having ongoing talks with them and I really hope and fundamentally believe that we will get there. DEADLINE: The No Fakes Act is winding its way through Congress. Looking back on 2023, how did having your own experience with deepfakes right in the middle of an intense period of negotiations shape your view of the issue? CRABTREE-IRELAND: I've kind of gotten used to the fact that it happened. It's a little unnerving, I guess, or disturbing, but it was really shocking at the time. And not a good feeling. This was something I felt really strongly about it before that, and I've been advocating about abusive deepfakes for years, but it's something when you experience it firsthand. I don't want anyone to have to feel that experience, but so many of our members feel it and, unlike for me, it's not an isolated incident. It's a daily occurrence. So the idea that anyone could think that the First Amendment only means that you get to say what you want to say is baffling to me. If someone else is allowed, on First Amendment grounds or for any reason, to put words into your mouth and make it appear as though you believe something you don't believe or advocate for something you don't believe in, to me that's as harmful to the final freedom of speech as limiting the speech. I think that is equally contrary to freedom speech and association. I think that that message is very much resonating and if you saw the list of people and organizations supporting the No Fakes Act, it's quite a coalition. It ranges from OpenAI and Google to us to the MPA to people who aren't normally on the same side of these types of issues. DEADLINE: But why do you see this current effort succeeding, after a previous version of the bill stalled? CRABTREE-IRELAND: Federal legislation is always a challenge, particularly in this moment. It had been active at the end of the last Congress and then events overtook us. The Senate was very focused on confirming judicial appointees and almost nothing else and so It just ended up being that the circumstances around it didn't foster an opportunity. But I believe there really is a strong commitment on both sides of the aisle to make it happen. I think it also helps that people recognize that it's not only about our numbers or professional performers because this is something that affects all of us and this law benefits all of us. I'm certainly not a professional performer, but it would've been tremendously beneficial to me and to anybody from high school students to homemakers to those working in medicine or really almost any field. I'm really hopeful that this can be one of those things that even in our very contentious times will make people say, 'Hey, this is something we can all get behind. Let's do it.' 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Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA Launches Influencer Committee Amid Further Push Into Creator Economy
In an acknowledgement of the shifting balance of power and attention in today's media landscape, SAG-AFTRA is stepping up its efforts to represent and support influencers. National board members of the union unanimously voted to create an influencer and digital creator committee during the organization's latest two-day plenary, SAG-AFTRA announced on Sunday, as the labor group eyes an expansion into the digital performance space beyond branded content. More from The Hollywood Reporter "Shut It Down": Why Adam McKay Is Endorsing a Mass Strike for Workers Across Industries Writers Guild West Staffers Launch Their Own Unionization Drive (Exclusive) My Mother, the Hollywood Scab The committee is intended to serve as a voice for digital creators and influencers within the labor group, according to national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. 'During the theatrical strike, creators of influencers stepped up in big ways to stand by our members on strike,' he says, pointing to those who agreed to abide by the union's 2023 dictates to turn down work from struck companies. 'I think that just really cemented for us the obvious connection and nexus there.' In 2021, SAG-AFTRA introduced an influencer agreement and waiver under its commercials contracts that allowed digital creators a pathway to join the union. But those deals only cover work in the branded content space not the original creative content being rolled out on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. As time passed, 'It really became clear that if we're going to continue to expand, and especially outside of the branded content space, we needed to have a formal structure in the union so that members who do this work could come together and give us guidance and leadership,' says Crabtree-Ireland. The goal, he says, is to eventually find a means for the union to directly cover non-branded content. Patrick Janelle, a New York-based travel and lifestyle influencer, has been tapped to chair the new group, which will start by gauging support needs for creators. In a statement, Janelle says he sees 'a significant need to build standards for this multi-billion dollar creator economy and an opportunity to create meaningful infrastructure and support for the talent who form the foundation.' The committee will include a diverse array of creators who operate on every major platform, adds Janelle. 'Together, with our collective experiences and unique perspectives, we will build tangible tools, provide resources and develop industry standards, creating meaningful support for creators who are at various stages in their careers,' he says. SAG-AFTRA does not have an estimate of the number of influencers that it counts amongst its 160,000-odd members, or at least the number who produce shortform content on digital platforms as their primary job. But thousands of union members have worked under the influencer waiver and agreement since they were introduced a few years ago, Crabtree-Ireland says. But it's clear the nearly 100-year-old union — the Screen Actors Guild was formed in 1933, AFTRA a couple of decades later — sees influencers and the platforms they work on as a key component of its future. For Janelle's part, he thinks the organization's experience can help regulate the Wild West of work for digital platforms. Says Janelle, 'I am confident that with the weight of this organization … we can make significant contributions toward ensuring that creators are able to build more stable, safe and sustainable careers.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chappell Roan's Grammy Speech Raises Questions on Healthcare in the Music Industry
Chappell Roan brought the music industry's treatment of artists back into the national consciousness this week during her Grammy acceptance speech for Best New Artist, challenging music companies to do better by young, developing acts. 'Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection,' Roan said. 'Labels, we got you, but do you got us?' More from Rolling Stone How The Weeknd Returned - and More Backstage Grammys Secrets The Grammys Understood Beyoncé Was Country. Why Didn't Nashville? A Teenage Chappell Roan Forecasted Her Best New Artist Grammy Win Roan's comments reflect a deeply frustrating system that leaves many artists feeling vulnerable and powerless, but the healthcare system for musicians — like for most people in the United States — is even more difficult to navigate than even Roan's comments would suggest. So how does it actually work? One might assume from Roan's speech that artists at major labels don't get access to insurance at all, but that's not necessarily the case. While the labels don't directly provide coverage for their artists the way that most employers in other industries do, they do have agreements in place with SAG-AFTRA that allow their artists to qualify for insurance through the powerful entertainment-industry union. As SAG's executive director, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, explains, recording artists who are signed under royalty deals with the big three major record companies — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group — remain eligible for health insurance coverage regardless of their annual earnings from their recordings as long as they're signed to the label. The premiums for those plans currently sit at $375 per financial quarter, according to SAG's site. Another union, the American Federation of Musicians, represents instrumentalists such as session musicians and offers healthcare options as well. Crabtree-Ireland says he spoke briefly with Roan after her speech and wants to find ways to raise awareness among the artist class so they can be more knowledgeable about what resources are available to them. 'We're trying to get the word out,' Crabtree-Ireland says. 'Artists in the music industry, in contrast to film and television, often work independently, so sometimes that leads to a bit of isolation, where information isn't automatically shared by being around people.' A lack of awareness about these types of union resources has been an issue for recording artists for years. Still, the SAG deal with the labels doesn't completely address the problems that Roan highlighted. For one, artists signed to a major record label represent just a small percentage of all the recording artists in the business. Artists at many independent labels are not eligible for the same SAG deal, as their labels haven't carved out deals with the union. The same goes for any unsigned artists who are still trying to get a foothold in the industry. If an artist gets dropped — like Roan did from WMG's Atlantic Records back in 2020 — they lose their insurance eligibility and either have to find a plan through the Affordable Care Act or through COBRA, which can be incredibly expensive. This can be particularly difficult for artists who sign young and don't have training to enter another field, but it's ultimately similar to what employees in more typical jobs have to face if they quit or get fired. Advocates and music policy experts who spoke with Rolling Stone acknowledge that the insurance issue goes far beyond musicians, impacting every industry in this country — and they argue the only shot for systemic improvement comes from the federal government. 'Our system is fragmented. Changes should be made on a federal level ideally to include more people at lower cost,' says Renata Marinaro, managing director of health services at the Entertainment Community Fund, which helps provide resources to those in music and entertainment without insurance. She notes that navigating insurance networks can be challenging for artists who tour. 'If you are a musician that's touring and you get your coverage through the marketplace in New York City, you're not [necessarily] going to be covered in Ohio or California,' she continues. 'It's frustrating for me to tell somebody that it's easier for you to travel around Europe and see different doctors with travel insurance than it is for you to travel around the United States. Ultimately, we have to get away from these state-based silos and have an answer that's federal and makes insurance more affordable.' Most of the policy experts Rolling Stone spoke with advocated for some form of universal healthcare system to give freelancers easily accessible coverage that isn't dependent on an employer. 'For so many musicians, you're moving between employers so frequently. Most musicians, you've got many different people paying you — you've got several labels, streaming services, every time you play a festival,' says Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, an organizer at United Musicians and Allied Workers. 'It's a dizzying array of people. That's the case for a lot of freelancers across industries. It's hard to imagine a situation that's not advocating for some kind of single-payer situation in the United States, and not having healthcare dependent on an employer relationship.' The healthcare question is just one part of a broader conversation on how artists are classified in the industry. While Roan called for labels to treat artists as 'valued employees,' even that statement is a bit thorny when it comes to the details. Technically, label artists aren't considered employees at all; if they were, that might open the door for the labels they worked for to take 100 percent ownership of their music under a so-called 'work for hire' standard. As such, being reclassified as employees isn't a particularly popular movement in the industry. Kevin Erickson, the director of the Future of Music Coalition, a nonprofit music policy group in Washington, D.C., contrasts this with the situation faced by some other kinds of gig workers. 'For example, Uber drivers have been organizing to try and get reclassified as employees instead of independent contractors, because for an Uber driver, being a W-2 employee can potentially solve a lot of problems,' Erickson says. 'There are situations for some musicians where reclassification is appropriate, but for a recording artist that's signed to a label, that brings up a lot of questions that independent contractors in other parts of the economy aren't wrestling with.' Still, Erickson and other advocates like DeFrancesco are pushing to find ways to give artists better resources while still keeping their intellectual property. UMAW, for instance, worked with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) last year to introduce the Living Wage for Musicians Act, a bill that sought to establish a new royalty stream by tacking on a fee to subscription services and adding more money to the paltry income many artists see from their streams. 'Artists in the music industry are simply not organized enough,' DeFrancesco says. 'The solution to a lot of these issues has to inevitably be joining an organization and taking collective action, to force the industry to take artists more seriously.' 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