Following another round of waivers granted by SAG-AFTRA, we have the first one granted that will allow to promote a film rather then shooting a film. Sources confirmed to Deadline that The Unknown Country, which stars Lily Gladstone and Quantum Leap‘s Raymond Lee and opens this Friday, was granted a waiver by the guild allowing for guild members to do publicity for the upcoming film.
SAG also sent an email to any publicist working with talent that they may now resume work with SAG-AFTRA performers, including publicity, which will allow Gladstone and Lee to promote the film before and after the films release on Friday without any ramifications.
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SAG-AFTRA has now granted more then 75 waivers for indie projects with almost every single one meant for the film or TV series to resume production and this latest development now opens the door for films and series coming out this fall to apply for a waiver for similar purposes.
The Unknown Country was written and directed by Morrisa Maltz and had its world premiere at the 2022 SXSW festival and tells the story of a grieving mother who after receiving an unexpected invitation rushes her into a lonely road trip through the American Midwest towards the border between Texas and Mexico.
With the approval of SAG-AFTRA, filmmakers, cast and crew will be in attendance at a local premiere in Spearfish, South Dakota, which is a community screening for the Indigenous community in the area. Additionally, they will appear at Q&As in NY and LA opening weekend.
The film is being released by Music Box Films, an independent, non-AMPTP-affiliated distributor and will open this weekend in New York and Los Angeles.
“As an independent, non-AMPTP-affiliated distributor, Music Box Films is committed to bringing the best independent and international films to cinemas around the US. And few films are as thoroughly independent as THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY. We are grateful to the creative team and SAG-AFTRA for swiftly signing an interim agreement that will allow the release to go forward with all collaborators present. Music Box Films will continue working with independent productions to bring unique and diverse stories to your local arthouse and independent theaters,” said Music Box in a statement.
Applications for the waivers were made available on the first day of the strike, which was July 14, and the guild immediately received “hundreds of applications … we will be responding to all of them,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at the time, noting that projects can’t have “any AMPTP fingerprints on them” if they hope to be granted an agreement.
At Comic-Con on Friday, Crabtree-Ireland explained to Deadline why some projects have been granted interim agreements even though they may have ties to major studios.
“It goes to reflect the complexity and the business relationships and structures in this industry,” he said. He added that the agreements “are the terms of our last counter-offer to the AMPTP on all the issues in this negotiation.”
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