Yahoo News Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO On Strikes: “It’s Not True That We Don’t Want to Negotiate”
Amid the U.S. industry’s historic double strike of actors and writers, a top Hollywood executive is weighing in on how the two sides could work to resolve the labor impasse.
“We want to find a deal. We need to come to a deal. Even if the newspapers wrote otherwise. We want to go back to the table and resolve this issue quickly,” Tony Vinciquerra, chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said during the Audio-Visual Producers Summit in Trieste, Italy on Friday.
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“It’s not true that we don’t want to negotiate,” said the executive, referring to the failed talks with SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union that has been on strike since July 13. “It’s exactly the opposite. We are sorry for the strike. We are aware of the importance of screenwriters and actors, who are key partners in the production of films and series. The problem must be solved. This situation is difficult for everyone. Even for people who are not union members, who cannot work anyway.”
Vinciquerra also said, “the offer made to SAG-AFTRA was the best we ever did put on the table.”
On stage with Vinciquerra was producer Tarak Ben Ammar, who heads the production and distribution company of Eagle Pictures (which distributes Sony in Italy). “The other day I was just coming out of the Sony office, and I saw the picket lines,” he said, “I pulled the car over and rolled down the window, to gauge the mood of the people. I asked, ‘Why are you striking?’ They said they were demonstrating against the studios. They asked me, ‘And where are you from?’ I replied that I live in France, and they said, ‘You do strikes well there.'” Ben Ammar added, “work will resume soon. It is the desire of everyone, both the studios and the workers.”
But if in the United States the industry stands still, in Italy it is more active than ever. Cinecittà studios are registering a full house for the coming months, and Ben Ammar himself announced last June his intention to invest “40-50 million euros” in an entirely new production hub, in agreement with the institutions. “There has been a strong acceleration on the works,” he said, referring to what in the industry is already being called — with some nervousness, in Rome — “Cinecittà 2.” “This summer we should sign the agreement for the land we have selected. The idea is to be operational from next summer, in 2024.”
The deal between Eagle Pictures and Sony has resulted in several co-production projects, some in Italian. Among them the romantic comedy Hotspot – Amore senza rete by Giulio Manfredonia (Sony has acquired the intellectual property for Brazil, Spain, Mexico and Portugal), the remake of Sul più bello, for which Vinciquerra’s company will make the Mexican version, or Il matrimonio del mio migliore amico. Also in the near future is an Italian-language co-production inspired by a Spanish film, El cuerpo, to be directed by Vincenzo Alfieri (set in October).
A version of this story, which was translated from Italian, was originally published on The Hollywood Reporter Roma.
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