SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios reach tentative agreement to resolve strike
Hollywood actors are getting back to work.
SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents more than 150,000 film and television creators, reached a tentative agreement Wednesday on a new contract with the entertainment world’s top studios — A major step that would revitalize an industry that has been virtually paralyzed for months.
“In a unanimous vote this afternoon, the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP that ends the 118-day strike,” the actors’ guild said in a statement, adding that the strike officially ended at noon ends at :01 a.m. Thursday.
SAG-AFTRA said the tentative deal would be presented to the union’s national executive board on Friday for “review and consideration” and that more details would be announced after that meeting.
Tens of thousands of actors took to the picket lines on July 14 after SAG-AFTRA failed to reach an agreement on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a trade group that negotiates with studios and streaming services. (The group represents Comcast, which owns NBC News.)
The tentative agreement caps weeks of negotiations that once included four of the most influential executives in modern Hollywood, according to a source familiar with the talks: Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav and NBCUniversal Langley’s Donna .
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said the tentative deal “represents a new paradigm,” including a new remainder for streaming and protections around artificial intelligence.
“The AMPTP is pleased to have reached a provisional agreement and looks forward to the industry getting back to its work of telling great stories,” it said.
Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America, a union that represents Hollywood screenwriters, agreed to a new three-year contract with the studios in September, known as a “minimum basic agreement.” The writers’ strike officially ended on September 27 at 12:01 a.m. PT.
The two unions made similar demands, including stricter protections against the use of artificial intelligence, higher base pay and a bigger cut of streaming profits. Both unions had not struck at the same time since 1960.
The details of the agreement were not immediately released.
The double strikes effectively shut down Hollywood and halted production on numerous projects, from sequels to big-budget films to network series and streaming originals. Major studios have postponed the release of several completed films, such as “Dune: Part Two,” because guild rules would have prohibited actors from promoting their work during the strike.
The work stoppages also left many actors and writers in financially precarious situations.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomed the tentative agreement, saying it would “impact almost every part of our economy.”
“I am grateful that a fair agreement has been reached between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP after a strike that lasted more than 100 days and affected millions in Los Angeles and across the country,” Bass said in a statement. “Those on the phone were the most affected during this time and there was an impact across the city.”
“We must rely on local production to ensure our entertainment industry recovers stronger than ever and our economy gets back on its feet,” she added.
The strikes came amid intense structural upheaval in Hollywood, which is grappling with how to embrace the digital age, survive the decline in traditional television viewership and cope with the rise of AI technologies that many creatives see as an existential threat.
