Longest actors’ strike in history finally set to end

After almost 120 fractious days, the Hollywood actors’ strike appears to be over.

The negotiating committee of the union that represents thousands of actors, SAG-AFTRA, has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with major studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

“In a unanimous vote this afternoon, the SAG/AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP bringing an end to the 118 day strike,” the union said in a statement.

“The strike officially ends at 12:01am on Thursday, November 9.”

The longest actors’ strike in history is finally set to end.Credit: Chris Pizzello

The agreement, reached after a tense and dramatic week of negotiations, tentatively ends Hollywood’s longest actors’ strike. It follows the end of a writers’ strike that lasted even longer – almost five months – in September.

The proposed deal came after studio chiefs presented what they called their “last, best and final” offer, which executives said addressed the union’s demands, last Friday. The two sides then met on Saturday afternoon to discuss the proposal, with company representatives stressing they needed movement from the union to salvage the current television season.

After the union’s negotiating committee spent four days debating the proposals, the studio chiefs gave them a deadline for a response of 5pm on Wednesday. The guild announced its decision 23 minutes before the deadline, later saying the three-year contract was “valued at over $US1 billion” and would allow union members to build sustainable careers.

“We did it!!!!,” union president Fran Drescher wrote in an Instagram post. “The Billion+ $ Deal! ... [Thank you] sag aftra members for hanging in and holding out for this historic deal.. [and] Our sister unions for their unrelenting support!”

The two strikes had a crippling effect on Hollywood’s movie and television production.

As well as creating financial hardship for many strikers and other entertainment industry workers, they are estimated to have cost the Southern Californian economy $US6.5 billion ($10.1 billion).

While specifics are yet to be revealed, the proposed new actors’ contract would boost minimum pay, residual payments for shows streamed online and healthcare funding. It is also believed to include new rules stopping studios from using artificial intelligence to create digital replicas of actors without payment or approval.

Cast and writers from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” on a picket line outside Sony Pictures studios.Credit: AP

If the proposed contract is ratified by union members, the $US134 billion American movie and television business will swing back into action.

“Today’s tentative agreement represents a new paradigm,” the AMPTP said in a statement. “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.

“The AMPTP is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories.”

While there was a historic level of solidarity for the union’s push for a better contract under Drescher, the heads of such major entertainment companies as Disney, Netflix, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros Discovery wanted to salvage both the television season and the pipeline of movies for cinemas.

The year’s box office has already been dampened by the bumping of some major releases, including Dune: Part Two and, in Australia, The Dry sequel Force of Nature, into next year.

Major sticking points in the negotiations between the union and entertainment companies were rules for the use of AI and providing actors with additional compensation for streaming.

“I’m relieved,” Kevin Zegers, an actor from the American ABC show The Rookie: Feds, told The New York Times after the union’s announcement. “If it didn’t end today, there would have been riots.”

His comments reflect the anger among striking actors that encouraged union leaders to hold out for a better deal than entertainment companies were prepared to offer in the first 100 days of the strike.

Two weeks ago, an open letter reportedly signed by thousands of actors including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Hamm, Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Leslie Odom Jr and Demi Moore, said they would rather stay on strike than accept a bad deal. “We have not come all this way to cave now,” it said.

While the studios face significant business challenges, including the rapid decline of cable television and continuing streaming losses, their negotiators have had to give up more ground than seemed likely early in the strike to get production rolling again.

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