SAG-AFTRA NED at KNX Town Hall Panel

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland joined other industry insiders for a town hall panel discussion titled Streaming Wars: The End of Content’s Golden Age? on Feb. 13. Hosted by Los Angeles radio news station KNX 97.1, other panelists including SAG-AFTRA member and Wings & a Prayer Pictures Executive Director Ron Perlman; Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton; Entertainment Weekly Editor-in-Chief Patrick Gomez; and Karia Manashi, president and executive producer of Kid Cudi’s Mad Solar Productions. The simulcast was broadcast on KNX radio and livestreamed on YouTube. 

Streaming Wars panelists shared their thoughts on the factors affecting the current media landscape, including the proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies and the aftereffects of the actors' and writers' strikes. Several times during the panel, Crabtree-Ireland discussed the work of entertainment unions, including SAG-AFTRA, to push for a business model that is more inclusive toward creatives. 

“We’re doing things to try and help change the business and move it in a direction that is … more about making sure that artists have control and that creativity remains in the hands of humans,” said Crabtree-Ireland, who discussed SAG-AFTRA’s 118-day TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike in 2023. “I think that resonated not just with the members of SAG-AFTRA or the creative community and the labor movement within the entertainment industry, but with the public. There is a growing sense that people want to take back control from big corporations and have their concerns heard and responded to.

“A.I. is going to be an ongoing issue for multiple rounds of bargaining, and I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet,” he said. 

Other conversations centered on the consequences of the growth of streaming platforms in recent years. Topics included the impact streaming has had on the industry’s traditional business model, the shift in consumers’ viewing habits following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the difficulties creatives now face navigating these changes. 

“There are still Stevie Wonders and Bob Dylans being born every day. The only change is how they make their way to the public eye,” said Perlman. “Genius is constant.”

To watch the full panel, scroll below.