Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512402
SAG-AFTRA Exec Talks Artificial Intelligence SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland delivered keynote remarks prior to a Nov. 15 Brookings Institution panel discussion on the impact of artificial intelligence technology on labor. Crabtree-Ireland discussed the reasons from the strike, including how unregulated use of AI could harm SAG-AFTRA members' careers. The Brookings Institution is a nonpartisan policy think tank. S AG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has been named as an Out100 Disruptor by Out magazine. Citing his leadership during the strike, Out stated, "As one of the few out leaders of a major entertainment group, Crabtree-Ireland knows that the fight for labor and LGBTQ+ equality go hand in hand." The Out100 highlights the year's most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people in six categories: Artists, Disruptors, Educators, Groundbreakers, Innovators and Storytellers. Along with SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, Crabtree-Ireland was the face and spokesperson for the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike — the largest strike in the United States in 26 years, and the first joint strike by the actors union and the Writers Guild since 1960. When not in negotiations or working internally with members and staff to develop contract proposals and counterproposals, he was on the picket lines with members. "One of the things that we're fighting for is basic equity, inclusion and fairness in the industry," Crabtree-Ireland told Out magazine. "And I'm proud to say that SAG-AFTRA has been at the forefront of making sure that the entire American scene is represented on film, television, and streaming — and that's a fight that we're in for the long run." As chief negotiator, Crabtree-Ireland directs efforts to make lasting improvements to how SAG-AFTRA members are treated in the industry and has led or overseen negotiations for some of SAG-AFTRA's most important contracts. He is also focused on SAG-AFTRA's engagement with new technology and innovation, which has positioned the union well as it combats the threat of AI to entertainers' livelihoods. A longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and a past co-president of the LGBTQ+ Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Crabtree-Ireland helped shape the union's efforts to promote its LGBTQ+ membership and co-founded the union's first LGBTQ+ member committee in 2005. LUKE FONTANA/OUT Disruptor! SAG-AFTRA NED Named to Out100