The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood film and television studios, marking the end of a 118-day strike. The strike, which involved more than 60,000 SAG-AFTRA members, had significant impacts on the industry, including delayed release dates and waits for new show seasons.
The three-year contract, which still needs approval from the union's board and members, includes increases in minimum payments to actors, a larger share of streaming revenue for performers, enhancements to benefit plans, and protections against the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence in recreating performances. The contract is worth more than $1 billion in total, marking a historic pay increase for actors.
The end of the strike has allowed for the resumption of several films and TV shows that were midway through production, including sequels to Beetlejuice, Deadpool, Gladiator, and Venom. TV shows resuming production include Andor, Abbott Elementary, Hacks, and Yellowjackets. The end of the strike also means an end to further delays of The Last of Us season two, and the final seasons of Stranger Things and The Handmaid's Tale.
The premiere of The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes, took place in London following the end of the strike. The film, set 64 years before the original Hunger Games films, follows the rise of Coriolanus Snow, the president of dystopian Panem. The film had been granted a waiver allowing its cast to promote it during the strike.
The news comes one month after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) struck a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), ending a 146-day strike of their own. The six months of Hollywood strikes are estimated to have cost the Southern California economy more than $6.5bn and 45,000 entertainment industry jobs.