After 118 days when the Hollywood machinery stopped due to the actors’ strike (that joined the previously called writers’ strike), we can officially say that it’s all over, at least for now. Fran Drescher, president of the SAG-AFTRA (actors’ guild), announced that the union finally reached an agreement with the main film and TV studios in Hollywood.
The union had several demands that were hard to negotiate with the main studios. Some of the main demands were an increase in wages, compensation in residuals for streaming shows and films, health and pension improvements, and protection for their actor’s images regarding artificial intelligence.
Were these demands met? Relatively… After days and days of negotiation, both parties settled on a new contract that would last only three years, which would give the actors’ guild a chance to negotiate one more time if their demands weren’t entirely fulfilled as they expected.
What Did the Actors and the Studios Agree On?
Regarding wages, both parties agreed to a 7% rise, two percent more than what the directors and writers settled on. One of the main points of the strike is the residual matter, the success of streaming services left actors with less money than they received before. Now, actors will receive a “streaming participation bonus” if the productions are successful.
One benefit the actors will receive is an increase in their pensions and health contributions, something that many actors (not Hollywood stars) were struggling with. The new contract, according to the SAG-AFTRA is worth over 1 billion dollars. “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.”
Although the union agrees that the agreement isn’t perfect, they consider this settlement as a historic and massive win for actors and performers. Now, what does this mean for the industry and the audience?
What Are the Immediate Changes
For us mortals, the end of the strike means several things. On the one hand, actors will go back to the projects they left unfinished. Series and film productions will soon resume, and actors will finally be able to promote their work on social media and events like red carpets and interviews.
All “source close to the production” or ” an insider leaked” stories will finally stop being our source of information as studios can finally announce things about their productions, which means that we won’t need to trust rumors about actors being cast on movies and series as we’ve done so in the past months. In other words, we might actually find out soon if Taylor Swift will appear in Deadpool 3, for instance.
Now, there’s a catch. Although picket lines are now suspended, the union board still needs to ratify the agreement on Friday. Only then, will we know when and how actors will resume their work. Also, if there are some changes to the agreement. Still, many celebratory meetings are already been organized, so let’s just hope it all happens fast because we’re running out of new content!
