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In her two years as SAG-AFTRA president, Fran Drescher has diligently worked to bridge the factional divides that have long plagued the union.
“Member unity will be my greatest legacy,” she declared in her campaign statement this summer as she sought re-election (successfully securing over 80% of the vote).
However, as the SAG-AFTRA strike approaches its 100th day, Drescher faces her most challenging leadership test to date: Can she keep the union together long enough to deliver the “seminal” deal she has promised members?
A group of A-list actors, led by George Clooney, met with her and the union’s top negotiator on Tuesday. While the A-listers expressed their support, the underlying message was their eagerness to get Hollywood back to work and their lack of confidence in the guild’s current path.
The group, which also included Ben Affleck, Meryl Streep, and Scarlett Johansson, presented a proposal to increase dues for high-earning actors and reconfigure residuals to benefit those with lower incomes.
Instead of remaining silent after being gently rejected, Clooney publicly shared his proposal — seemingly challenging Drescher and the SAG-AFTRA Negotiating Committee, potentially indicating a weakening solidarity within the union.
Drescher recorded an Instagram video on Thursday, in which she explained the reasons why Clooney’s dues idea would not work, citing federal law and its irrelevance to the negotiation issues at hand.
Regarding his residual proposal, she stated, “Unfortunately, it doesn’t hold water.”
Drescher then redirected the focus to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, emphasizing her own idea for a new form of streaming residual that she believes will revolutionize the acting industry.
“We have uncovered something significant. We have identified the flaw in this streaming model,” she said, proposing an “unprecedented compensation structure” that the CEOs would have to accept. “It may not be easy. It may not be what they want. But it is an elegant solution to enable us to return to work in what would become the new normal.”
SAG-AFTRA followed up with a memo to members on Thursday night, expressing gratitude to the Clooney group for their “ideas and support,” while explaining why those ideas are not feasible.
The memo also suggested that the A-listers are in direct communication with studio heads, potentially attempting to bypass the negotiating committee.
The union also provided clear guidance to actors on how they can best contribute: “For now, we encourage all members to support our full proposal package and join us on the picket line.”
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, stated in an interview on Thursday that the Clooney group’s efforts should not be seen as undermining union solidarity.
“Different people may perceive it differently,” he said. “But from my perspective, the conversations I’ve had with members across the entire spectrum of our membership have all been about ‘What can we do to help further this?’ If they have great ideas, I want to hear them for sure.”
CEOs are also eager to resume work, but they have concluded that as long as the union demands half a billion dollars in streaming residuals per year, in addition to what actors already receive and the percentage increases obtained by the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America, the negotiations will stall.
In private, they have expressed frustration that Drescher seems more focused on redistributing wealth than reaching a workable agreement.
Meanwhile, Drescher is striving to maintain unity within the membership and persuade them to stay the course.
“This too shall pass,” she reassured on Thursday. “But this is the moment when we cannot succumb to pressure. This is the moment where we stand tall and remain steadfast.”
