SAG-AFTRA approves 39 indie movies for production

by Dan Cooper |
Hollywood sign WGA writers strike negotiations
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The US actors guild has begun the process of approving small film productions with exemptions from the ongoing strike. 

The actors’ strike has begun to bite, with lots of high-profile productions shutting down until an agreement is reached between the US actors union, SAG-AFTRA and the alliance of producers, the AMPTP. Some of the big movies that had begun shooting, only to forced into shutdown include Deadpool 3, Gladiator 2, Venom 3, Lilo & Stitch, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 2 and Brad Pitt’s untitled F1 drama.

However, SAG-AFTRA is keen for the strike not to cause unnecessary harm to smaller independent productions who are in no way affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (that’s Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros, etc.) and as such, has started to issue exemptions to ‘truly independent productions’.

As such, (according to Deadline) 39 productions so far have been granted exemptions, including two projects from arthouse studio A24: Mother Mary and Death Of A Unicorn.

Mother Mary stars Anne Hathaway and could start shooting imminently whilst Death Of A Unicorn stars Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega as a father & daughter who run over a unicorn on the way home. That project isn’t ready to face the cameras yet but when it’s ready, it can shoot.

Any signed agreements between these independent productions and SAG-AFTRA will be retroactively binding, presumably meaning a production company can’t claim exemption as an indie, before later involving a member of the AMPTP in some fashion. It’s good to know that those working on projects that aren’t affiliated with the AMPTP will be able to continue to work as the strike continues, especially with some speculating that the industrial action will run to September at the very earliest. We’ll bring you more on stories emerging from the Hollywood shutdown as we hear them.

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