LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — SAG-AFTRA, a union representing on-screen talent in film and television brought a months-long shutdown of Hollywood to an end on Wednesday after reaching a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a trade group representing major studios.
“We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. As of 12:01am on November 9, our strike is officially suspended and all picket locations are closed. We will be in touch in the coming days with information about celebration gatherings around the country,” SAG-AFTRA announced late Wednesday.
The deal brought an end to the second major labor action this year that brought the film and television industry to a grinding halt, following the resolution of a strike by the Writer’s Guild of America that was resolved at the end of September.
According to SAG-AFTRA, their new contract, valued at over one billion dollars, includes “above-pattern” minimum compensation increases, new protections for actors from artificial intelligence, and a streaming participation bonus, though the union stopped short of describing the bonus as residuals.
Additionally, the Screen Actors Guild secured improved pension and health benefits as well as improved compensation for background performers.
“We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work,” the union said, announcing the deal.
“Today’s tentative agreement represents a new paradigm. It gives SAG-AFTRA the biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union, including the largest increase in minimum wages in the last forty years; a brand new residual for streaming programs; extensive consent and compensation protections in the use of artificial intelligence; and sizable contract increases on items across the board. The AMPTP is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories,” a spokeperson for AMPTP added in their own announcement about the tentative agreement.
