Hollywood studios and the union representing some 160,000 actors have reached a tentative agreement to end the strike that is halting TV and film production.
The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee unanimously approved the tentative agreement, according to a statement from the union Wednesday. The 118-day strike ends at 12:01 am on Thursday.
SAG/AFTRA’s national board will review the deal on Nov. 10, the union said. More details will be released after that meeting.
With the previously notable writers having been back to work for more than a month, the settlement with actors means production of scripted TV shows and films can soon resume. Both sides found common ground on issues ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to payments through streaming services.
Members of the Screen Actors Guild left their jobs in mid-July after contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers collapsed.
The actors joined the Writers Guild of America, whose members went on strike in May. That was the first time in more than forty years that both unions were on the picket line at the same time.
The double strike crippled film and TV production, forcing studios to delay film releases and networks to turn to reruns, reality TV and game shows to compensate for the lack of new scripted programs.
The writers’ union reached a deal with the studios on September 24 and allowed members to return to work a few days later. The guild’s 11,500 members approved their new contract on October 9.
Both unions are striking over similar issues, including a higher minimum wage, a share of revenue from streaming services and a guarantee that they will not be replaced by a new generation of artificial intelligence tools. The actors had demanded 2% of the revenue generated by their programs from services such as Netflix Inc. They also demanded consent whenever their image or voice was digitally reproduced using artificial intelligence.
Like the writers, the actors’ union benefited from direct involvement in the talks by some of the most powerful people in Hollywood. Executives including Bob Iger of Walt Disney Co., Ted Sarandos of Netflix Inc., David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley joined the conversations with the actors.
The studios left the discussions on October 11 after the union presented a new proposal – that they would be compensated based on each streaming subscriber. The media companies said the fee would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars annually, on top of the terms they agreed to.
Talks resumed on October 24, with the studios increasing the percentage increase in minimum wage they would give actors to 7% in the first year.