Actors union and studios reach agreement ending 118-day strike
On November 9, neither Hollywood’s actors nor writers will go on strike for the first time in more than six months.
The long-awaited clarification in the industry’s stormiest season in decades comes after an agreement was reached late November 8 to end what was, at nearly four months, the longest strike ever for film and television actors.
The three-year contract must be approved in the coming days by the board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and its members. But the union leadership declared the strike ended at 12:01 a.m. on November 9, bringing all parts of production back into action for the first time since the spring.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, said the gains made from the deal justified the fight.
“It is an agreement that our members can be proud of. I’m certainly very proud of it,” Mr. Crabtree-Ireland told The Associated Press in an interview. “We said we would only accept a fair, just and respectful deal, and that is exactly what this deal entails. So I think as soon as we can release more details, our members will look at it and say, this is something worth striking for.”
More than 60,000 SAG-AFTRA members went on strike on July 14, joining screenwriters who had left their jobs more than two months earlier. It was the first time since 1960 that the two unions had struck together. The studios and writers reached an agreement that ended their strike on September 26.
The union valued the deal at well over a billion dollars. Mr Crabtree-Ireland said the deal includes increases in minimum payments to actors, a greater share of streaming revenues going to artists, a strengthening of benefit plans and protections against the unfettered use of artificial intelligence in recreating performances. Details of the terms will not be released until after a Nov. 10 meeting where board members will review the contract.
The AI protections have been a sticking point in negotiations that have been methodical, with both long pauses allowing both sides to meet, since they restarted on October 24.
“It is something that has developed even while we were still in this negotiation process,” Mr Crabtree-Ireland said. “The capabilities of generative AI tools have expanded dramatically. So we really focused on making sure that the guardrails that we negotiated were future-proof or at least future-proof.”
The other side of the negotiations, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said in a statement that the “agreement represents a new paradigm. It gives SAG-AFTRA the largest contract-on-contract profit in the union’s history.” The AMPTP said it “looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories.”
Executives from top entertainment companies including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal had direct influence on the negotiations.
The Writers Guild of America applauded the Nov. 8 deal. “We are thrilled to see SAG-AFTRA members win a contract that provides new protections for artists and gives them a greater share of the tremendous value they create,” the union said in a statement. “When workers are united, they win!”
While the writers’ strike had immediate, visible consequences for viewers, including the months-long suspension of late-night talk shows and “Saturday Night Live,” the impact of the actors’ absence was not so immediately apparent. But the ripple effects — delayed release dates and waits for new show seasons — could be felt for months or even years.
Actors must quickly return to film sets where productions have been paused, including “Deadpool 3,” “Gladiator 2” and “Wicked.” Other films and shows restart shooting once the returning writers have completed the scripts.
And beyond scripted productions, the end of the strike offers an opportunity for actors to return to the red carpet, talk shows and podcasts as awards season approaches in Hollywood.
“The SAG strike is over!! I can finally say it: watch my documentary on HBO/MAX on Saturday evening at 8 p.m.!” actor-director Albert Brooks said on social media shortly after the strike ended. “I couldn’t say a word until now!!”
The only major awards show directly affected by the strike was the Emmys, which were moved from September to January. Now the usual Oscar campaigns will be mobilized in the fall.
But any sense of normality in the sector could be temporary. The circumstances that led to the strikes – the shift from traditional theater and broadcast media to streaming, and emerging technology such as AI – have not slowed down. And the gains made by the strikes could embolden other Hollywood unions, or the same guilds, in negotiations that will happen again in three years.
Union leaders viewed the strike as a turning point from the start because it took place amid broader labor disputes in other sectors.
“I think it’s a conversation now about the culture of big business, and how it treats everyone up and down the ladder in the name of profit,” SAG-AFTRA president and “The Nanny” star Fran Drescher said in August to AP.
The deal also means a return to sets for thousands of film crew members who had nothing to work on during the strikes. SAG-AFTRA attempted to compensate for their hardships by allowing sometimes controversial interim agreements for some smaller productions to go ahead, and by making their strike relief fund available to all industry workers.
“The idea that I’m discovering whether I can still remember how to act is very exciting,” said actor Ely Henry, who has led pickets outside Paramount Pictures as a strike captain in recent months. “I’m just grateful for so many people going back to work.”
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Leslie Ambriz contributed.