#Expanded Group of Studio Leaders to Attend SAG-AFTRA Bargaining Session on Saturday

The full complement of studio leaders from the major studios and the streamers are expected to attend Saturday’s bargaining session with SAG-AFTRA, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The two parties are convening on Saturday on Zoom after the studios made their latest offer to top negotiators for the union on Friday night. Studio heads including Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav attended previous negotiations sessions with SAG-AFTRA this year, as well as with the Writers Guild of America before that union made its deal in late September — but Saturday’s group is expected to be more numerous.

Top execs from Paramount, Sony, Apple and Amazon will also be in attendance, meaning that all of the major legacy Hollywod studios will be represented alongside the three tech giants with major film and TV ambitions.

The Hollywood Reporter reached out to the AMPTP for comment.

It’s a serious sign as the SAG-AFTRA strike hits its 114th day. As of Saturday, sources gave differing answers as to when a deal might be done, with some more optimistic than others that negotiations could wrap up quickly at this juncture. The SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee met Saturday morning to prepare for the day’s bargaining session.

The two parties have been back at the bargaining table and meeting continuously since Oct. 24. Iger, Langley, Sarandos and Zaslav have been present for some of those meetings, but recently AMPTP president Carol Lombardini has been leading the conversations on behalf of the studios.

A little over a week ago, top executives from the larger contingent companies met with SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and union president Fran Drescher to, among other things, lay out the stakes regarding their TV and film production schedules and how they are reaching a tipping point, including the 2024 summer movie calendar.

People on that call, in addition to the four regular executives who have been present in previous negotiating sessions, included Sony Pictures chairperson Tony Vinciquerra, Paramount CEO Brian Robbins and Amazon Studios’ Mike Hopkins and Jennifer Salke.

Kim Masters contributed to this report.