SAG-AFTRA members walk the picket line on the 100th day of their ongoing strike outside Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, October 20, 2023.
Mario Anzuoni | Reuters
Hollywood’s actors and studios have a tentative employment agreement.
“This afternoon, the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Commission unanimously approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP ending the 118-day strike,” the actors’ guild said in a statement, adding that the strike will officially end at 11am. Thursday 12:01 pm.
The preliminary deal will go to the union’s national board on Friday for “review and consideration,” the statement said, adding that further details will be released after the meeting.
Talks between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have resumed in recent days after abruptly ending last month, eventually leading to a tentative deal that would end the actors’ strike.
Hollywood actors initiated a work stoppage in mid-July because negotiations with studios and others failed Disney, Decisive, Universal, Netflix And Warner Bros. Discovery.
The studios made their “last, best and final offer” this weekend, with top executives making it clear they would make no further concessions. SAG-AFTRA spent time on Sunday and Monday evaluating the deal.
Television and film artists wanted to improve wages, working conditions, and health and retirement benefits, as well as set up guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence in future television and film productions. In addition, the union sought greater transparency from streaming services about viewership so that remaining payments can be made equitable for linear TV.
The deal comes more than a month after SAG-AFTRA’s sister guild, the Writers Guild of America, ratified a new contract with studios and ended its own strike.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
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