SAG-AFTRA Approves Deal to End Historic Strike

Valerie Wu Intern Barack Obama celebrated the end of Hollywood’s historic strikes during a surprise appearance alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama at a special screening of Netflix’s “Rustin.” “It’s great to see even more of you since the strikes are over,” the former president told the audience on Friday night in Washington, D.C. He added, “As somebody who cares a lot about the power of workers in this country and as the father of somebody who writes in film, I am glad that both the actors and the writers came to an agreement that recognizes their worth and their work.” The screening for the Netflix biopic was held at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C, and was one of the opening night events for the inaugural HBCU First Look Film Festival from Nov. 10 to Nov.

The studios wasted no time Friday responding to the SAG-AFTRA National Board’s vote to approve the new tentative agreement between the guild and the AMPTP.

SAG-AFTRA national board approved its new contract with the major studios with an 86% approval vote, sending it to membership for ratification. The official approval was announced by the guild at a press conference Friday afternoon, which finally got started at around 3:20 p.m. after an 80-minute delay.

The actors are set to vote on the tentative agreement with the studios after the SAG-AFTRA national board approved the deal.

In a full-circle moment, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher is holding a press conference at 2 p.m. today in the James Cagney Boardroom of the guild’s Wilshire Boulevard headquarters, the same place that she fired up the troops with her strike-launching speech on July 13.

Seth Meyers is congratulating actors after SAG-AFTRA made a deal with the studios to bring their 118-day strike to an end.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA had settled dozens of issues, ranging from pension and health contributions, to page limits for self-taped auditions, to pay for background actors. But there was still the small matter of zombies. The union was worried that studios could use artificial intelligence to reanimate dead actors, or to create a digital Frankenstein out of the body parts of real actors.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA‘s new contract is worth more than $1 billion over three years. But the union did not get one of its top priorities: a share of revenue from each streaming platform. Fran Drescher, the union president, made that her top priority, arguing it was essential to transform the contract to keep up with a transformed industry.

Ellise Shafer U.K. entertainment unions Bectu and Equity are celebrating the tentative agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP that is set to end the longest actors strike in Hollywood history. In an announcement on Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA said that the 118-day strike would officially end on Thursday at 12:01 a.m.

EXCLUSIVE: Bob Iger finally had his wish come true today

SAG-AFTRA is back to work after a successful strike!

With SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP having reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, it appears that the long-stalled beginning of Oscar campaign season for the many actors, forbidden from participating in any form of promotion for movies distributed and made by struck studios and streamers, finally can join the party. Until now, the FYC campaigns largely have been fronted by directors, craftspeople and, more recently with the end of the WGA strike, writers. For many voters, however, it is the lure of the stars that fills seats at FYC screening events and gets tune-in to the late-night talk shows and other promotional outlets so often used during the season to bring attention to a contender.

SAG-AFTRA and the studios have finally reached a tentative deal on a new contract after pausing Hollywood for 118 days.

EXCLUSIVE: The studios have told SAG-AFTRA they need to come to a deal ASAP to save what’s left of the broadcast season and the 2024 Summer movie slate.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A few days after AFM wrapped in Santa Monica, the dearth of substantial deals trickling in is pointing to a weakened film sales market which is grappling with structural changes and the reverberations of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Global industry players came into the AFM with reasonable hopes of dealmaking after a quiet Toronto festival, even if many packages were held back due to the strike.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA‘s top negotiator has never done this before. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has worked for the union for most of his adult life. In that time, he has become a master of the details.

The lead negotiators for SAG-AFTRA and the studios are set to meet later today in what could be the final phase to sealing a new deal and the end to the 117-day actors guild strike.

EXCLUSIVE: A deal may not be in the cards tonight, but SAG-AFTRA and the studios could be heading back to negotiations within hours.

It’s not quite Where’s Waldo?, but Fran Drescher wants to know when the studio CEOs are coming back to the table to finalize a new SAG-AFTRA three-year contract to end the guild’s nearly four-month-long strike.

EXCLUSIVE: It was all quiet on the SAG-AFTRA negotiations front Thursday.