The Hollywood Actors Union agrees to deal with the studios and ends the strike Protest news
The deal brings an end to a months-long production shutdown, allowing thousands of film and TV workers to resume work.
Hollywood Actors Guild board members have approved a deal with major studios, ending months of strikes that have halted production of hundreds of films and TV shows.
The actors guild said Thursday that a preliminary deal has been negotiated and agreed upon with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents media companies including Netflix, Paramount and Walt Disney.
The deal included a new three-year contract worth more than $1 billion that included minimum salary increases as well as a new “broadcast syndication.”
At a press conference Friday afternoon, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director and chief negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild of America for Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), announced that this tentative agreement had been approved with 86 percent of the vote. .
Crabtree-Ireland added that the deal would “preserve the sustainability of motion picture making as a profession for working-class performers.”
What’s in the contract?
Union board members did not specify who rejected the deal, but contract terms surrounding control of the artificial intelligence were among the final sticking points in the agreement.
“AI has been a deal breaker,” Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, told The Associated Press.
Currently, under the deal, when AI is used in a movie or show an actor is already working on, they will now be compensated in the same way as if they had already done what their digital form is doing, the guild said. Companies will need to negotiate new permission to use the likeness in a new project.
The contract also includes the creation of a new fund to pay performers for future viewing of their works on streaming services, and a 7 percent general pay increase and 11 percent increase for background actors will be effective immediately.
Meanwhile, the deal stipulates that production groups must have intimate coordinators for any scenes involving nudity, and the right hair and makeup studios for the performers they need.
“Happy scene”
Overall, after months of angry protests by union leaders, actors and union members, the atmosphere outside SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon was upbeat.
When SAG-AFTRA walked out in mid-July, Hollywood writers were also on strike.
The Writers Guild also settled their dispute in late September, saying they had received “meaningful gains and protection for the writers.”
The breakthrough means Hollywood could reach full production for the first time since May, once guild members vote to ratify the deal in the coming weeks.
The three-year contract is subject to a vote by Actors Guild members, starting Tuesday and running through December.
