The angel. The Hollywood actors union found a solution on Wednesday preliminary agreement with the studios to end their strike ends Months of labor disputes that historically paralyzed the entertainment industry.
The three-year contractual agreement The union board and its members must approve the strike in the coming days, but management said the strike would end at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
More than 60,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Performers went on strike July 14, joining screenwriters who left their jobs more than two months earlier. It was the first time since 1960 that the two unions went on strike together. The studios chose to negotiate with the writers first, reached an agreement that their leaders called a major victory, and ended the strike on September 26.
SAG-AFTRA and the studios have officially reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract. pic.twitter.com/uDHwVvJSlQ
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) November 9, 2023
Details of the deal were not immediately released but are expected to be shared with actors and the public in the coming days. Issues on the table included both short-term compensation and future royalties for film and television performances, as well as control over images and likenesses of actors regenerated using artificial intelligence.
Executives from major entertainment companies, including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal, were directly involved in the negotiations, which, like all union talks in Hollywood, were led by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Although the writers’ strike had an immediate and visible impact on viewers, including the months-long suspension of late-night talk shows and “Saturday Night Live,” the impact of the actors’ absence was not immediately apparent. But the aftereffects — delayed release dates and waits for new seasons of shows — could be felt for months or even years.
Actors were able to quickly return to film sets where production was paused, including “Deadpool 3,” “Gladiator 2” and “Wicked.” Other films and shows will be rebooted once returning writers complete their scripts.
And beyond scripted productions, the end of the strike would give actors complete freedom to return to red carpets, talk shows and podcasts as Hollywood’s awards season approaches.
The only major awards show directly affected by the strike was the Emmys, which were postponed from September to January. Now the usual fall campaigns for the Oscars are likely to be mobilized.
But any sense of normality in the industry could prove temporary. The circumstances that led to the strikes — the shift from traditional theater and broadcast media to streaming and new technologies like artificial intelligence — have not slowed. And the gains achieved by the strikes could encourage other Hollywood unions or the same unions in negotiations that resume in a few years.
From the start, union leaders viewed the strike as a turning point because it came amid broader labor disputes in other industries.
“I think it’s a conversation now about the culture of big companies and how it treats everyone at the top and the bottom in the name of profit,” said SAG-AFTRA president and star of “The Nanny,” Fran Drescher. Interview.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief executive and negotiator who led the team that secured the deal for the union, told the AP in August that he was honored to help ensure our members received a fair contract that protects us and to ensure that the 14-year-olds I spoke to on the Disney picket line still have the ability to be actors when they turn 18.”
If the deal is approved, it will also mean that thousands of film crew members who had nothing to do during the strikes can return to film sets. SAG-AFTRA tried to offset its difficulties by allowing sometimes controversial interim agreements for some smaller productions and making its strike relief fund available to all industry workers.