Historic Actors Strike Set To End, Protections Against AI Established
After 117 days on strike, SAG-AFTRA has finally approved a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), according to Variety. This follows the historic deal brokered by the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild. The Screen Actors Guild arguably put the most pressure on the studios for a fair raise in wages and updated protections against the rising concern of AI-generated performances using the likeness of their members.
Details of what is in the package haven't been released as of yet, but we do know the approval was unanimously agreed upon by SAG's negotiating committee, which bodes well for the members who have been striking since July 14, 2023.
The strike orders are being lifted at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, November 9, 2023, which means actors will once again be able to work on films and TV series as well as promote their movies just about to hit theaters.
Before the agreement becomes official, it will need to be voted on by the SAG-AFTRA national board, but if the negotiating committee is on board (and unanimously, at that), that's a pretty good indication the deal is to everybody's satisfaction, so it's likely to be ratified.
The strike concludes after weeks of contentious negotiations
This development comes after weeks of intensive back and forth with the producer's representatives, the AMPTP. You may have heard the producers sent a "last, best, and final offer" last Friday. The SAG-AFTRA committee didn't agree it was the best the producers could do, and negotiations this week have been on finalizing agreements on key factors, not the least of which was AI protections for its members. Variety has obtained some information on the deal ahead of the national board vote, and it bodes quite well for the 160,000+ members of SAG-AFTRA. Most actors' minimums will increase by 7%, which tops the amount both WGA and DGA won by two percent. The AMPTP's previous deal included bonuses for actors who appear on the most popular and watched shows on streaming, but we don't yet know how that provision has fared in the final deal.
As for AI, the AMPTP were pretty adamant about keeping the right to digitally scan an actor and be able to use that likeness in perpetuity. This gets even crazier when they suggested doing that for background extras so they'd get paid for one day of work and then digitally populate the backgrounds of movies and TV shows forever.
Both sides met again this morning, and it seems they have come to an agreement. Details of the gains achieved by SAG-AFTRA are expected to be released this Friday after the national board votes, and if the recent wins by the WGA are any indication, it's going to be an impressive list of protections for the folks who actually create and execute the content these studios depend on.