Watch the SAG-AFTRA Press Conference Announcing Details of the New Contract
Samantha Bergeson
Now that the SAG-AFTRA strike has officially ended, the terms between the Guild and the AMPTP are being revealed during a press conference led by SAG President Fran Drescher. You can watch it below starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT at the bottom of this article.
The tentative agreement ending the strike was announced November 8 after 118 days of actors not being able to work. The deal, as reached by a unanimous vote, goes before the SAG-AFTRA National Board today, November 10, for review and consideration. The initial announcement was to be made at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, but SAG-AFTRA announced a one-hour delay at approximately 5:15 p.m. ET.
The negotiating committee, led by chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, previously revealed the proposed deal with the AMPTP was worth $1 billion.
“In a contract valued at over one billion dollars, we have achieved a deal of extraordinary scope that includes ‘above-pattern’ minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establishes a streaming participation bonus,” the SAG negotiating committee said in a press statement. “Our Pension & Health caps have been substantially raised, which will bring much needed value to our plans. In addition, the deal includes numerous improvements for multiple categories including outsize compensation increases for background performers, and critical contract provisions protecting diverse communities. We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work.”
SAG-AFTRA was striking AMPTP productions since July 14, marking the first actors’ strike since 1980. This year’s strike was the longest strike in film and TV studio history. Over 160,000 actors were on strike in 2023. Select stars like George Clooney, Emma Stone, and Ben Affleck even offered to fund a solution to the strike by eliminating the cap on member dues for SAG, which would bring an estimated $50 million to the Guild annually.
During the strike, independent productions and select films still continued shooting with stars being able to promote the projects upon receiving SAG interim agreements.
The AMPTP called the tentative agreement with SAG “a new paradigm” that gives the Guild the “biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union.”
Details range from 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.”
The WGA was on strike earlier this year, while a DGA strike was curbed with an early deal with the AMPTP. The WGA strike concluded September 24, with the deal ratified October 9.
Watch the SAG-AFTRA press conference detailing the AMPTP agreement below.
