The Screen Actors Guild strike has finally come to an end after a historic strike which lasted through much of the year. On Wednesday, November 8th, the union and the collection of production companies, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, reached a tentative agreement. Negotiations have been ongoing throughout the strike, but especially in the last few weeks. The recent negotiations did not seem to be going well, and many were expecting the strike to carry into the new year, as the AMPTP continuously described their offers as last and final. However, now actors everywhere rejoice as a deal has been reached, with the deal described as “historic” and “represents a new paradigm” for the industry by the SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.
After a nearly four month long strike, many industry workers were beyond ready to get back to work.
While the union celebrates the deal, the AMPTP appears to as well. The studios released a joint statement saying “The AMPTP is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories.” This strike was one of the longest and most successful in terms of disruption to the Hollywood film and television industry. Much of the strike coincided with the Writers Guild of America’s strike as well, which brought just about every production to a pause. Together, there was not really anyone from the industry doing any work for months, which left the production companies completely stunned.
The full breadth of the details of the deal have not yet been released, but we do know bits and pieces.
The deal includes the largest increase in minimum wages that has occurred in the industry in the last 40 years. The biggest issue that led to the strike had to do with residual payments and how the previous method of payment for these is outdated now in the day and age of streaming. So, the deal also includes a new method of payment distribution of residuals for streaming programs. Another heavy-hitter issue had to do with artificial intelligence. With that, the deal will instate rigorous consent and compensation protections for artificial intelligence. Overall, the deal appears to hit much of what the strike called attention to.
