SAG-AFTRA announced Wednesday it had reached a tentative deal for a contract with Hollywood studios, ending a strike that lasted an unprecedented 118 days.
The union has only released some details of the agreement, but it’s safe to say this deal is historic. It includes a substantial increase in minimum wages, streaming participation bonuses and, crucially, restrictions on the studios’ use of artificial intelligence.
“In a contract valued at over one billion dollars, we have achieved a deal of extraordinary scope,” SAG-AFTRA said in its statement.
The agreement comes on the heels of the Writers Guild of America landing its own “exceptional” deal with studios in September after an arduous 146-day strike. It was the first time that both unions were on strike at the same time.
Hollywood has a strong union history, and actors and writers have long battled it out with studios for agency and fair compensation. But in an era when the use of AI has threatened livelihoods and streaming behemoths operate under a shroud of secrecy, the protections won by the unions are critical.
In an era when the use of AI has threatened livelihoods and streaming behemoths operate under a shroud of secrecy, the protections won by the unions are critical.
In an interview with Deadline, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and union President Fran Drescher said that the deal is not everything they had sought but is “groundbreaking” nevertheless.
The use of AI was a big sticking point in negotiations. The union had accused the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiated on behalf of the studios, of putting forth a proposal that would allow studios to scan an actor’s likeness, then own and use their image in perpetuity without additional compensation. The AMPTP rejected that characterization.
The tentative deal they’ve struck now includes “provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI.” It also establishes, for the first time, streaming participation bonuses for actors. Previously, actors had received fixed residuals for performing on a streaming project, but how much they received did not increase when the show became a hit.
Streaming companies, which are notoriously secretive about data on viewership and other metrics, had rejected SAG-AFTRA’s previous proposals for a revenue share. Actors on hit shows like “Abbott Elementary” and “This Is Us” have publicly said that their residual checks came to mere cents on the dollar.
The protections secured by the unions should rebalance the power dynamic in Hollywood as emerging technologies radically reshape the economic landscape.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.