In an election cycle that took place amid a historic strike, Fran Drescher has been re-elected SAG-AFTRA president.
Meanwhile, Joely Fisher was re-elected the union’s secretary-treasurer. Drescher received 23,080 votes, over competitor Maya Gilbert-Dunbar’s 5,276 votes. Fisher received 19,777 votes, while challenger Pete Antico garnered 8,361 votes. The voter turnout was 22.84 percent.
“I am honored to serve my union as president for another term,” Drescher said in a statement. “Much has been accomplished in the past two years but I feel great optimism that the next two will be our greatest ever! As we let go of tribalism and gain more empathy for one another, as we realize that with each experience comes opportunity to better ourselves on our journey of self-refinement, we will also enter a golden age for SAG-AFTRA.”
In her own statement, Fisher said, “When we’re fighting against the entire show business establishment, the last thing we needed was to fight each other. I’m glad you all agree.” She added, “I’m overwhelmed by your unprecedented support and promise that president Drescher and I will move forward with the same commitment to unity exhibited in this election process and — finally — a decent contract.”
Drescher, the incumbent union leader and chair of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee, was a fiery, vocal presence in the early days of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which began on July 14 and has since lasted 56 days. Drescher emphasized that the entertainment industry was at a turning point, particularly foregrounding the differential between astronomic CEO pay packages and the wages of journeyman Hollywood performers. Drescher gave a rousing speech during the strike announcement — calling studio representative the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers “a very greedy entity” and saying, “shame on them” — and criticized Disney CEO Bob Iger during a separate interview, asking if he was an “ignoramus.” The union leader became less vocal in recent weeks, however, as the union elections approached and she said she was visiting her parents in South Florida.
Unexpectedly, but in an attempt to show solidarity during the union’s ongoing work stoppage, this election cycle two political factions within SAG-AFTRA that are typically at each others’ throats — Unite for Strength and Membership First — united behind Drescher. In addition to The Nanny star, the two groups joined forces to back Fisher and a “Unity Slate” of candidates for the union’s national and Los Angeles Local boards such as Sean Astin, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Frances Fisher. The group said it was aiming to address many of the issues that SAG-AFTRA has prioritized during its ongoing contract negotiations, such as regulations on A.I. and machine learning, improving residuals formulas and instituting more ground rules on self-taped auditions.
They were pitted against a slate of independents, led by presidential candidate Maya Gilbert-Dunbar and secretary-treasurer hopeful Peter Antico. Antico and Dunbar have called for mediators to intervene in SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing TV/theatrical contract negotiations and have said they want to end the strike also by calling on California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The independent slate, which includes former SAG-AFTRA presidential candidate Matthew Modine, is also seeking to make changes to the union’s pension and health plans, SVOD residuals formulas and treatment of background actors, stunt performers, singers and dancers.
Drescher and Fisher will have their work cut out for them as they start their term on Friday: The AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have yet to return to the bargaining table on the union’s TV/theatrical contract since the two sides broke off in mid-July. In the meantime, SAG-AFTRA is granting some productions that agree to their demands at the negotiating table interim agreements, which allow them to keep moving forward amid the work stoppage, a move that has been controversial in some corners of the union. Additionally, a potential video games strike looms on the horizon: The union is holding a strike authorization vote over its Interactive Media Agreement, covering work at companies including Activision Blizzard and Epic Games, that will end on Sept. 25.
