Actor-comedian Sarah Silverman is confused about the large volume of projects that have been granted interim agreements by SAG-AFTRA to film during the actors strike. And she is not alone.
“I feel f—ing pissed off, and I know I just must not be understanding something. There are like 40 movies being made right now,” Silverman said in a video posted on Instagram Thursday night. “When SAG joined the strike, it’s, ‘Movie stars aren’t making movies for you anymore, now what are you going to do?’ Well, they’re making movies. What the f*ck?”
Deadline’s list, which is being updated daily, features 102 film and TV titles — the vast majority of them movies — that have received permission to shoot since the SAG-AFTRA work stoppage began on July 14, with the casts featuring a number of Oscar winners.
“Movie stars are making movies because they’re ‘independent’ movies, and SAG is allowing it because if they do sell it to streaming, it has to be because streaming is abiding by all the things we’re asking for,” Silverman said. “That’s just working. The strike ends when they come to the table and we make a deal in agreement.”
Siloverman revealed that she too has been offered an indie movie to film during the strike but refused to do it. She said some of her friends started to accept these offers.
Sarah Silverman walks the picket line in support of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike on July 20, 2023 in Los Angeles.
Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images
“Please, explain to me why I shouldn’t be angry, because people are making real-deal sacrifices,” she said. “People, writers, actors, crew people, all these people are sacrificing their livelihood for this cause. It’s called union strong, where we are all together. And when SAG joined the strike, we should see every movie star out there striking along, because you have insurance because of your union and you get residuals because of your union. All of these things you get because of your union and you can’t stand with your union?”
She scolded both the actors who sign on for the movies with interim agreements and SAG-AFTRA for granting the agreements, which she thinks could “exponentially prolong” the strike.
“I don’t know if I’m mad at these movie stars making these indie movies that are obviously going to go to streaming” or am I mad at SAG for making this interim deal for these indie movies. What the f*ck?”
UPDATE: SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland responded to Deadline’s request for comment.
“We’ve met with Sarah Silverman and other actors to provide more information, context, and resources around the interim agreements,” he said. “Our members remain united and all-in for our fight to secure fair, equitable, and respectful contracts.”
The large number of waivers for movie and TV productions, which is growing daily, is raising eyebrows, especially since a few of the projects have ties to struck companies that are members of the AMPTP.
Some of the high-profile projects that have received interim agreement so far include Apple TV+’s series Tehran; spy drama series The Gray House, produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, which is being distributed internationally by Paramount Global; New Line pickup The Watchers from Ishana Night Shyamalan; Glenn Close’s The Summer Book; Viola Davis’ MRC action thriller G20, which will be distributed by Amazon, as well as A24 titles Mother Mary and Dreams of a Unicorne.
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