Duncan Crabtree-Ireland | |
|---|---|
 Crabtree-Ireland at CES 2025 | |
| Born | 1971 or 1972 (age 53–54)[1] Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations | Nationalexecutive director and chief negotiator ofSAG-AFTRA |
| Employer | SAG-AFTRA |
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is an American business executive and the nationalexecutive director and chief negotiator forSAG-AFTRA. He joined thetrade union in 2000 and has also held the roles of general counsel andchief operating officer. Crabtree-Ireland has been a judge pro tem of theLos Angeles County Superior Court and an adjunct professor at theUSC Gould School of Law. He is a board member of theSAG-AFTRA Foundation, theEntertainment Community Fund, and theMotion Picture & Television Fund.
Crabtree-Ireland was born inMemphis, Tennessee, and raised in Dallas.[2] He studiedGender Studies atGeorgetown University, and earned aJuris Doctor degree from theUniversity of California, Davis, in 1998.[1][3] He had considered joining theU.S. Foreign Service and becoming a professional diplomat.[4]
Crabtree-Ireland worked as aprosecutor for theLos Angeles County District Attorney's office for two years,[1] before joiningSAG-AFTRA in 2000. He became general counsel in 2006,[4] and was namedchief operating officer in 2014. Crabtree-Ireland also served as deputy national executive director of theScreen Actors Guild (SAG).[5] He has held the roles of nationalexecutive director and chief negotiator since 2021.[1][6]
Crabtree-Ireland represented thetrade union during negotiations of theBeijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, which was adopted by theWorld 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 andAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in 2012.[6][7] He worked on an international treaty onintellectual property, and negotiated withTelemundo to create the first labor contract in the United States fortelenovela actors.[4] During theCOVID-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 the2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and also in the2024-2025 SAG-AFTRA video game strike. He heads the union's bilingual initiative, and co-hosts thepodcastSAG-AFTRA en Español,[6] alongside Ana Carolina Grajales.[4]
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Crabtree-Ireland has led several departments at SAG-AFTRA, including: administration andinformation technology;diversity, equity, and inclusion; government affairs; governance; legal; professional representatives; andpublic policy. According toThe 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 theLos Angeles County Superior Court and an adjunct professor at theUSC 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 inOut magazine's annualOut100 list,[9] as well asVariety'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 the7th Astra Film Awards in 2024.[11]
Crabtree-Ireland was appointed toSoundExchange'sboard of directors in 2012.[12] He ischairperson of the SAG-AFTRA & Industry Sound Recordings Distribution Fund'sboard 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 theSAG-AFTRA Foundation, the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan,[13] the SAG-Producers Pension Plan,[6] and theMotion Picture & Television Fund,[14] and he is on the board of trustees of theEntertainment Community Fund.[15]
Crabtree-Ireland and his husband were among the first 100 same-sex couples to getmarried in San Francisco in 2004 before the unions were annulled by theSupreme Court of California.[1] The couple live in Los Angeles,[6] and have adopted five children.[1]