Yahoo News Can Actors Promote Truly Independent Films While on Strike? It Depends
The SAG-AFTRA strike has studios questioning release schedules, film festivals wondering who will show up, and indie filmmakers interrogating their own projects to understand what’s possible and what’s out of reach. For some, it means opportunity while others need to make tough choices.
Actor and producer Victoria Vertuga’s indie horror feature, “Cold Blows the Wind,” was accepted at the Days of the Dead Film Festival, which runs in Los Angeles August 25-27. When SAG called the strike, she sought clarity about what she could and couldn’t do for her film.
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Just as other indie filmmakers can sign interim agreements to continue production on independent films with no ties to AMPTP members, she obtained her own interim agreement that allows actors to continue promoting work that doesn’t involve any struck company. Vertuga’s Blame the Dog Prods. produced “Cold Blows the Wind,” which she made under the guild’s Ultra Low Budget Agreement.
“I was relieved. Obviously, these are very unprecedented times,” Vertuga said. “Understandably there’s a lot of confusion that people have.”
However, Vertuga knows that the larger strike rules will leave her watching her words. She must be abundantly careful to avoid promoting any past projects released via AMPTP-affiliated companies or platforms — which is to say, most of her career. And if she wants to keep promoting her indie movie at the festival, it has to stay that way: If she accepted a distribution offer from an AMPTP company, she’d immediately have to stop promoting it. Awkward, since selling a movie is a major reason for premiering at a festival in the first place. Vertuga is putting any efforts to pursue distribution on hold.
A SAG-AFTRA rep did not reply to IndieWire’s repeated requests for comment on this article.
Questions such as Vertuga’s are still being sorted out on the larger scale, particularly with festivals like Toronto, Venice, and Telluride that have AMPTP ties and screen studio movies. SAG-AFTRA lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend that “there might be a form of an interim agreement that we can make available for that purpose,” allowing promotion to proceed at those major fall fests. But they’d only happen if those actors also agreed to the future contract terms under the interim agreement, just as they have on the film production side.
This could force stars and the industry to look to more independent work, but indie creators are also feeling the pinch of the strike. Actor-director Kevin Interdonato made the tough call to delay the July 28 release of his upcoming micro-indie crime drama “The Bastard Sons” until the strike is over.
Interdonato, who had supporting roles in shows like “The Sopranos” and “City on a Hill,” is the writer, producer, and star of his directorial debut, which he also produced and financed under the Ultra Low Budget Agreement. It will be released through a very small distributor, the Ohio-based Cranked Up Films. He has modest VOD release plans for purchase or rental on a service like Amazon’s Prime Video Direct, Apple’s iTunes, or Vudu, but those platforms are operated by struck AMPTP companies.
As Interdonato explains, his movie can still be promoted by his distributor — just not by himself or any other SAG-AFTRA members involved in the project. Films as small as “The Bastard Sons” that are released via TVOD or AVOD streaming platforms need all the help they can get. They depend on grassroots marketing and word of mouth from their stars for audiences to find it and have any hope of recouping the investment. Interdonato said a release at even 50 percent of its maximum reach wouldn’t be worth it.
“It’s a confusing scramble,” he said. “Everyone’s trying to find a loophole somewhere, but at the end of the day, we are SAG actors and the last thing I want to do is make waves for the union. I just want to play it safe and make sure no one gets in trouble for anything, myself included.”
Other filmmakers have less autonomy to make decisions about how to handle their films. Director-actor Tom DeNucci’s indie film “The Collective” will be released by Quiver Distribution August 4 via limited theatrical release and VOD. The film’s stars include Tyrese Gibson and Ruby Rose — people with massive social media followings, and DeNucci wants to wait until they can promote it. However, he said release plans are too far along to be rolled back.
“You can’t be selfish in these situations. There’s a greater good,” DeNucci said. “I think it’s sit this one out and see what happens. Certainly, it doesn’t have the grave effects of the pandemic, and I’m not trying to make light of the pandemic, but it feels like pandemic time all over again for filmmakers where your hands are a little tied.”
Student films, commercials, and movies made under the lowest tier, the Micro Budget Agreement (under $20,000), are not considered struck contracts and can continue promotion. But the understandable concerns for any actor, even if you have permission to promote or shoot, are the optics of doing so.
“I know people who have gotten this clarification and maybe have already had screenings of short films, and they’ve gotten a lot of flak on social media,” Vertuga said. “Even if this is allowed, if I’m not doing anything wrong, how will it be received? How will the promotion during this time be perceived by people? Is that a bad look? Is that taking limelight away from the efforts of the strike?”
The best advice if you have doubts? Refer to the strike portal FAQ, which is continually being updated, or call your SAG-AFTRA rep for clarity — and hope you had better luck than we did in getting a response.
“I stand with the union. They’re doing everything they can to protect us, and the argument on behalf of SAG makes perfect sense, and hopefully they come to a conclusion sooner than later,” Interdonato said. “Instead of hanging on the downside of this, I’m pushing myself to stay positive and find ways to use downtime and think of ways to promote my film when the time comes.”
Additional reporting by Tony Maglio.
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