Celebrity Measurements

With SAG-AFTRA expected to start providing waivers for independent productions any day now, a number of features involving Guild actors are already understood to have received the go-ahead to shoot in the US and Europe.

After going on strike on Friday (July 14) the Guild is said to be reviewing numerous applications from independent producers and is preparing waivers / interim agreements to allow qualifying productions to start or continue with their shoots.

Sources say the last few days have been hectic. According to one, SAG-AFTRA was telling producers from the moment the strike started that they could not work until they signed an interim agreement, which ran against earlier guidance informing them that production could continue until the agreements were signed.

Now that applications are being reviewed one source said, “Things seem to be getting a little better.”

To qualify for a waiver an independent production cannot involve studios, streamers, or any company represented in strike talks by Alliance Of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Furthermore, as previously reported here, producers must agree to the terms of the agreement which will materialise once SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP make a deal.

These terms will cover base pay, benefits, and an ultimate residual number. One source said the terms are in line with what SAG-AFTRA negotiators requested in the recent negotiations, which in the case of base pay is an 11% rise.

One production which Screen has confirmed has resumed shooting after a day or two on pause is the Rebel Wilson action comedy Bride Hard in Savannah, Georgia, Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft Tomb Raider) directs the story of mercenaries who sabotage a wedding, unaware that the maid of honour is an undercover agent.

It is understood a bond is being provided for the production.

Several productions are understood to be active in Europe however Screen had not confirmed titles at time of writing.

Striking West Coast SAG-AFTRA members will stop picketing at Disney and Warner Bros at 12noon PT this week due to a heat advisory in the Valley area north of Los Angeles where the studios are situated.

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