SAG-AFTRA rolls credits on the actors strike

The Future. 118 days later… the actors strike is now officially over. That’s a major sigh of relief for Hollywood and the rest of California, which suffered a $6 billion blow to the economy from this year’s contract disputes. With many analysts already pointing to how the SAG-AFTRA and WGA contracts are two of the best union contracts in Hollywood history, expect to see cross-union partnerships take a bigger role in labor relations moving forward.

And, scene
After finally sitting down to resume negotiations in October, a deal has been reached between the 160,000-strong actors union and the major Hollywood studios.

• SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee accepted the AMPTP’s latest offer, which ended the strike at midnight.
• The contract now goes to the membership for a ratification vote, but the union may allow members to go back to work before it’s officially approved (just as the WGA did).
• While the deal points haven’t been disclosed yet, SAG-AFTRA shared the contract is valued at over a billion dollars in additional compensation.
• That includes gains in consent and compensation for the use of AI (which was the major holdup), minimum compensation increases, and a streaming participation bonus.

Prepare for Hollywood to be in a tizzy tomorrow as studios and streamers rush to complete half-finished films slated for release next year, PR firms go into hyperdrive to salvage the awards season calendar, and indie productions try to decipher updates to their interim agreements.

As Thor and X-Men: First Class screenwriter Zack Stentz tweeted last night: “Thoughts and prayers to all the talent agent assistants whose phones are going to blow up first thing tomorrow morning…”