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Duncan Crabtree Ireland

From left: Lindsay Dougherty, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Meredith Stiehm, Matthew Loeb, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and moderator Matt Belloni speak on the A.I. Goes to Hollywood panel at the 2024 Labor Innovation & Technology Summit in Las Vegas.
Matthew Belloni • January 11, 2024

The Workers of Hollywood See A.I. Fights Ahead 

For the first time since the strikes of 2023, the leaders of five major entertainment unions come together to debate the artificial intelligence threat, what they gained (and didn’t) by shutting down the industry, and the roadmap for negotiations in ’24: “Nothing is off the table.”
Jonathan Handel • November 16, 2023
Are Actors Overthinking the A.I. Threat?
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher speaks as SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland looks on at a press conference discussing their strike-ending deal with the Hollywood studios on November 10, 2023, in Los Angeles.
A close look at the three primary concerns raised by SAG-AFTRA members regarding how “synthetic performers” and other computer-generated replacements could threaten their livelihoods.
Matthew Belloni & Jonathan Handel • November 10, 2023
Are There Still More Strikes Ahead?
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (C) raises his fist while speaking at the conclusion of picketing outside Paramount Studios on day 113 of their strike against the Hollywood studios on November 3, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.
Hollywood is rejoicing after an awful six months, but as 2024 negotiations loom, will C.E.O.s take the high road?
The SAG-AFTRA proposal that president Fran Drescher says she won’t back down from is also flawed.
Jonathan Handel • October 23, 2023
A 10-Point Plan to Finally Resolve the Actors Strike
With SAG-AFTRA and studios set to restart negotiations, it's time to get real: the union should drop its insistence on a per-subscriber payment and instead propose a supercharged version of the “success” bonus that the Writers Guild achieved.
Alas, the Clooney plan will not end this strike.
Matthew Belloni • October 20, 2023
Clooney Can’t Solve the Actor Strike
A celebrity-led proposal to redistribute income could have generated $150 million over three years—nice, of course, but it’s ultimately a symbolic gesture, and entirely irrelevant to the issues in this negotiation.
Rep. Adam Schiff and SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
Matthew Belloni • July 21, 2023
Can Anyone Win Hollywood’s Labor Summerslam?
With Netflix pulling away in streaming and L.A.’s mayor poised to jump into the fray, the incentives for the studios and talent guilds to make a deal become even more complicated.
Bob Iger, always a master of his own image, has seemed to misplay the moment—even if he’s right about the dire situation that Disney and the other AMPTP companies face.
Matthew Belloni & Jonathan Handel • July 14, 2023
The Nanny Steps All Over Bob Iger
An insider look at the deal points, red lines, and potential paths forward as SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and the actors join Hollywood’s writers on the picket line and at the negotiating table.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
Matthew Belloni • July 14, 2023
The Actors Enter the Strike Abyss 
A candid conversation with SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator as the Hollywood actor’s union joins the WGA in an historic dual strike.