SAG-AFTRA has unanimously voted to approve a tentative deal with studio association AMPTP that it says is valued at more than US$1 billion. 

The agreement includes pay increases, protections against AI and a first-ever streaming participation bonus. It’s also raising pension and health benefit caps and increasing the pay scale for background actors. 

SAG-AFTRA will share full contract details after the union’s national board has reviewed it. 

“We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers,” said the union’s TV/theatrical negotiating committee in a statement. “Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work.”

The deal “represents a new paradigm” in the industry, according to a short statement released by AMPTP. “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 40 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.” 

SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 TV and film actors started picketing back in July for higher wages, AI protections (so it wouldn’t replace actors or use their likeness) and an end to actors having to shell out funds on self-taping auditions (which became the norm during the pandemic).  

Image courtesy of Nikhil Mistry via Unsplash