I’m so proud of Fran Drescher and SAG-AFTRA. The actors really held strong for 118 days. The actors’ strike began in July, joining their sister union, the WGA, in a comprehensive strike across the board. The writers’ strike ended in September with what sounded like a very, very good agreement for writers. Meanwhile, the actors held the line – they wanted profit-sharing with streamers, they wanted a new model for residuals, they wanted to severely limit the use of AI, they wanted significant pay increases across the board for working actors. The AMPTP kept f–king around and finding out too, thinking they could break or starve the actors. They could not. And now, finally, a deal.
After a grueling 118 days on strike, SAG-AFTRA has officially reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with studios, a move that is heralding the end of the 2023 actors strike.
The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved the agreement in a unanimous vote on Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA announced. The strike will end at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. On Friday, the deal will go to the union’s national board for approval.
The performers union announced the provisional agreement Wednesday, after about two weeks of renewed negotiations. The development came not long before a deadline of 5 p.m. that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had set for the union to give their answer on whether they had a deal.
The union is so far providing some details of the agreement, more of which will likely emerge in the next few days prior to the union’s ratification vote. In a message to members on Wednesday night, the union said the pact is valued at over $1 billion and includes pay increases higher than what other unions received this year, a “streaming participation bonus” and regulations on AI. The tentative deal also includes higher caps on health and pension funds, compensation bumps for background performers and “critical contract provisions protecting diverse communities.” If the deal is ratified, the contract could soon go into effect, and if not, members would essentially send their labor negotiators back to the bargaining table with the AMPTP.
You can read more at THR about the fits and starts of the negotiations, where even big-name studio executives came into the room to try to bully the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee. Seriously, I’m so proud of the actors – this was an amazing example of a union holding the line, with 99.9% of their members in lockstep. This strike will be studied in labor law classes and it will be studied by unions around the world. Also: SAG-AFTRA’s waiver program worked SO WELL. There was some confusion at first, but as soon as actors were told that they could and should promote waivered work, they did and it worked out really well. It was a visual reminder at film festivals and premieres that some smaller production companies could support their unions, so why couldn’t studios?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Los Angeles, CA – Leaders of a Hollywood actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and streaming services broke down. Pictured: Fran Drescher BACKGRID USA 13 JULY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Leaders of a Hollywood actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and streaming services broke down. Pictured: Fran Drescher BACKGRID USA 13 JULY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Leaders of a Hollywood actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and streaming services broke down. Pictured: Fran Drescher BACKGRID USA 13 JULY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Celebrities attending SAG-AFTRA strike outside the NBC Studios. Featuring: Bailee Madison When: 17 Jul 2023 Credit: Jose Perez/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities attending SAG-AFTRA strike outside the NBC Studios. Featuring: Christian Slater When: 17 Jul 2023 Credit: Jose Perez/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities attend SAG Strike at Warner Brothers Studios. Featuring: Jack Black Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 06 Nov 2023 Credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities at the SAG-AFTRA picket line in Los Angeles, California. Featuring: Khary Payton, Noah Wylen Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 07 Nov 2023 Credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities at the SAG-AFTRA picket line in Los Angeles, California. Featuring: Martha Plimpton Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 07 Nov 2023 Credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
Yay!
Honestly, the only show I’m eagerly waiting to return is Abbot Elementary.
Me too!
So glad for them, especially the protections around use of AI and streaming compensation.
Me too!
Well done!!
What a moment. Congratulations to the union!
It looks like they got most everything plus the highest minimum pay raise in years. Fran was a force of nature, no wonder she was re-elected this fall with 85% of the vote. Total respect.
Union strong!
Yay unions! The last few years have been a huge reminder of the power of collective action.
Also the studios, particularly their exes did themselves no favours showing how cruel, greedy, and craven they are.
I was worried that the guild was not only being bullied by the big companies but also by the very successful actors who were worried about not being able to promote their Oscar bait movies and their overall deals falling through. It was getting obvious who those people are (cough, Bradley Cooper, cough) and they were getting greedy and scabby. I do think once it was drilled into even the biggest stars that AI is much more of a threat to them than it is the working actor, they helped push the studios to offer better deals. I do hope the hard working actors who stuck to their guns and worked the picket lines let it be known that they know who did and didn’t support them and those who can vote on the Oscars show their disapproval in a way that really hurts those who were selfish and self-serving during the strike.
Wow I just read up on Bradley Cooper. He just blew his award season hopes for the awards chosen by fellow actors.
Anyway really happy for the actors unions work!
I love this for them, seriously. I am so proud of Fran and the entire union for standing up here.
And the timing works out too for the studios bc you know they want some of those big winter movies promoted. Disney’s Wish isnt going to do anything without some promotion around it……
I’m thrilled for the union(s)!! I wish the streamers wouldn’t pass this cost down to us, though… every one of my subscriptions has gone up this year and I’m going to cancel a couple as a result.
Yaaay! Welcome back actors! 2024 is gonna be a slow year waiting for the 2025 new seasons of all the best shows, but it’s worth it to see justice for workers. Fran Drescher FTW!
Sorry to burst your bubble but SAGs “waivers” did NOT work well for a lot of independent features.
Thanks to the wait times to get an IA as well as when they kept changing the WGA limits, I had 3 fully independent features shut down this fall. That meant that three sets of crew would not be paid. The most heartbreaking news was having to tell them there wouldn’t be a paycheck for this year.
Great for SAG and all, but all the below the line workers suffered massively, and those guys are the reason there’s a set to film on.
It’s always tough to support a strike, my aerospace-worker father was on strike when I was very little, and I vividly remember the struggle to pay the bills when there was no paycheck. But it was the right thing to do in the end. I still have his old toolbox that has the union sticker on it.
In my opinion, the actors did the right thing holding the line, especially about AI. If the studios had got what they wanted, eventually every performance would have been computer-generated, and there would be no more sets. You don’t need lighting, or hair and makeup for a fake character. It may have taken a few years to become reality, but your below the line workers would no longer have any jobs at all.
While I see your point, my BTL workers have no jobs now, and haven’t had work for the last six months, some longer. Almost 60% of my crew has left business or moved away. While the strike did some good, it did a lot of irreparable damage to other unions and crew members and productions.
Honestly, nothing is going to stop AI if studios want to make those features, sorry to say. It’ll be a years until we’re an AI exclusive entertainment world, but it’s inevitable.
Will be interesting to see if everyone’s so amenable when IATSE and Teamsters get their chance to strike next year
KASalvhy, I’m sorry for all of the people who have been off work for so long and their only recourse was to work in another field.
I believe that the power of the unions can help with the AI issue. I, personally, would have no problem NOT watching anything that’s AI. Give me real people or forget it. If the unions can push that–and start now and don’t wait–it may be harder for the studios to switch to AI. I have real issues with AI for a myriad of reasons, and I believe that we need to slow AI development down until ethical issues, etc., are figured out and codified in someway.
I mean, that’s how strikes work. It’s frustrating and scary, but it’s also the last resort for unions. It doesn’t mean the actors were wrong for striking. Make no mistake, if the studios used AI as much as they want, those below the line workers would have lost their jobs down the line, too.
I know I’m going to get a lot of hate for this comment. But it does need to be said. All the people who work in the entertainment industry in front of and behind the scenes. They have to all know that they have jobs that rely on the whims of other people. More so than most jobs. Plus most of their work is sporadic. Even in the best of times. I totally support all the unions. But this idea that the others people behind the scenes were screwed over is just fantasy. They all could be gone if a star gets hurt. Or the deal falls through. Or a million other reasons. That’s just part of the gig. If they don’t like it they shouldn’t be in the business.
Yay! Glad a good decision from the actors was reached. Now the casts and crews can all get back to work!
I am not so patiently waiting for more Abbott Elementary and Righteous Gemstones.
I’ll never forget when all those A list actors tried to undermine the SAG negotiators by trying to throw their money at the problem because they were tired of being on strike. It wouldn’t have touched on any of the real problems so I assume they wanted to just pressure the Guild negotiators. Anyway all my respect to Drescher and the Crabtree guy.
Exactly, the people who make the most and have the closest relationships with the studios were chomping at the bit to get back to work because they need to make MORE money and they want to promote their films. They don’t remember what it was like to be a working actor going job to job and so they didn’t care. Not until the AI issue was really front and center and they were being told that their likeness could be used without getting paid for it, then all of a sudden they were ok to negotiate a better deal. Just the worst people.
I agree, but I wasn’t surprised by this , I think they were more tied of not being able to campaign for awards than anything. It wasn’t a coincidence that a week after it’s reported that Clooney a calls his friend to donate money to SAG, it’s announce that his wife not the firm she works for but his wife is getting award at the Venice film festival where he just so happens to have a movie showing.
Clooney and his wife did the whole promoting while “not promoting” ( see Bradley Cooper), his movie that was shown on the same night his wife received her “award”. After that, we see Clooney leading to charge to undermine the SAG negotiators by giving the studio to get out of jail and free card.
I think they only gave money to the SAG-AFTRA in the first place to make themselves look good in the eyes of the public. They don’t really care about the lower actors.
Great news!
👏
Congratulations, SAG-AFTRA! Congrats, Fran! #UnionStrong