Hollywood’s major studios and creative unions placed an extension to its 30th June deadline before announcing official safety protocols as productions return post-pandemic. The terms of the deal will not be modified as the negotiations continue.
Both parties insisted on needing more time to determine the appropriate measures that should be taken on behalf of creative staff returning to the studios. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers aretasked with managing talks related to a major studio, network, and streamers alongside the Directors Guild of America, IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, and Basic Crafts.
The unions reached an agreement with the AMPTP last year to enforce strict safety protocols following lockdowns, but since the September decision, related talks have been put off as the market prepares to ease the restrictions following a decline in Covid-19 cases, and the distribution of the vaccine.
One of the biggest challenges the agencies are sorting through its implementing rules that correlate with federal, state, and local public health guidelines. Despite promising advances suggesting the diminishment of the virus, studios are once again vulnerable as a result of the new, highly contagious delta variant, reported to have reached Los Angeles County this week as the area encourages its residents to continue wearing a mask, just two weeks after the state of California lifted the mandates, along with other restrictions.
