Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is an American business executive and the national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA. He joined the trade union in 2000 and has also held the roles of general counsel and chief operating officer. Crabtree-Ireland has been a judge pro tem of the Los Angeles County Superior Court and an adjunct professor at the USC Gould School of Law. He is a board member of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the Entertainment Community Fund, and the Motion Picture & Television Fund.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1971 or 1972 (age 52–53)[1] Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | National executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA |
| Employer | SAG-AFTRA |
Early life and education
editCrabtree-Ireland was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in both London and Dallas.[2] He studied international relations at Georgetown University, and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis, in 1998.[1][3] He had considered joining the U.S. Foreign Service and becoming a professional diplomat.[4]
Career
editCrabtree-Ireland worked as a prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office for two years,[1] before joining SAG-AFTRA in 2000. He became general counsel in 2006,[4] and was named chief operating officer in 2014. Crabtree-Ireland also served as deputy national executive director of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).[5] He has held the roles of national executive director and chief negotiator since 2021.[1][6]
Crabtree-Ireland represented the trade union during negotiations of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, which was adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2012 and regulates copyright for audiovisual performances and expands performers' rights.[4] He also played a major role in the merger between SAG and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in 2012.[6][7] He worked on an international treaty on intellectual property, and negotiated with Telemundo to create the first labor contract in the United States for telenovela actors.[4] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Crabtree-Ireland worked on safety measures and participated in negotiations with studios on return-to-work agreements in 2020.[6] He was the lead negotiator during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. He heads the union's bilingual initiative, and co-hosts the podcast SAG-AFTRA en Español,[6] alongside Ana Carolina Grajales.[4]
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Crabtree-Ireland has led several departments at SAG-AFTRA, including: administration and information technology; diversity, equity, and inclusion; government affairs; governance; legal; professional representatives; and public policy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he "helped land the first augmentation of streaming payments to include worldwide usage and the first health and retirement plan contributions from streaming payments".[8] Crabtree-Ireland is also a judge pro tem of the Los Angeles County Superior Court and an adjunct professor at the USC Gould School of Law.[6]
Crabtree-Ireland received the Peggy Browning Award and the Co-President's Award from the LGBTQ+ Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.[6] In 2023, he was included in Out magazine's annual Out100 list,[9] as well as Variety's annual list of the 500 most influential business leaders in the media industry.[10] He was among the recipients of the Impact Award at the 7th Astra Film Awards in 2024.[11]
Board service
editCrabtree-Ireland was appointed to SoundExchange's board of directors in 2012.[12] He is chairperson of the SAG-AFTRA & Industry Sound Recordings Distribution Fund's board of trustees, as well as co-chair of the American Federation of Music & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund's board of trustees. Crabtree-Ireland is also a board member of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan,[13] the SAG-Producers Pension Plan,[6] and the Motion Picture & Television Fund,[14] and he is on the board of trustees of the Entertainment Community Fund.[15]
Personal life
editCrabtree-Ireland and his husband were among the first 100 same-sex couples to get married in San Francisco in 2004 before the unions were annulled by the Supreme Court of California.[1] The couple live in Los Angeles,[6] and have adopted five children.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f Sperling, Nicole (October 1, 2023). "Longtime Union Leader Steps Fully Into Hollywood's Spotlight". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ Dalton, Andrew (October 3, 2023). "As actors restart talks and writers return to work, here are key players in the Hollywood strikes". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Duncan Crabtree-Ireland '98 Co-Leads Actors' Strike". UC Davis School of Law. July 18, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Maddaus, Gene (November 7, 2023). "SAG-AFTRA's Top Negotiator Trained as a Diplomat. Can He Close the Deal?". Variety. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 810134503. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ Robb, David (May 26, 2021). "Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Confirmed As SAG-AFTRA's Next National Executive Director, Succeeds David White Next Month". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Sakoui, Anousha (May 26, 2021). "SAG-AFTRA names Crabtree-Ireland national executive director, chief negotiator". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (February 17, 2023). "SAG-AFTRA Chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Extends Contract with Union Through 2028". Variety. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ Kilkenny, Katie (May 26, 2021). "SAG-AFTRA Names Duncan Crabtree-Ireland National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator". The Hollywood Reporter. ISSN 0018-3660. OCLC 44653726. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ Reynolds, Daniel. "Duncan Crabtree-Ireland". Out. ISSN 1062-7928. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Duncan Crabtree-Ireland". Variety. December 16, 2013. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Astra Film Awards adds Impact Award, Publicist of the Year Award, & the Hidden Empire Independent Filmmaker Award". ASTRA Awards. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "SoundExchange Names Three New Board of Director Members". Billboard. July 13, 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Board of Directors". SAG-AFTRA Foundation. July 5, 2014. Archived from the original on April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Motion Picture & Television Fund. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Board of Trustees". Entertainment Community Fund. February 11, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.