Valued at more than $US1 billion ($1.6 billion), the new three-year contract includes increases in minimum salaries and a new “streaming participation” bonus, the union said.
SAG-AFTRA President and The Nanny star Fran Drescher wrote on Instagram: “We did it!!!! The Billion+ $ Deal!”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiated on behalf of Walt Disney, Netflix and other media companies, said the agreement represented “a new paradigm” that gave the union its “biggest contract-on-contract gains” in its history.
The organisation said it “looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories”. With the strike ending, Hollywood can ramp up to full production for the first time since May.
Union members will vote to ratify the deal in the coming weeks, giving them a pathway to returning to work. Source: Getty / Mario Tama
“I’m relieved,” actor Fanny Grande said in an interview. “It’s been really difficult for most people in the industry, especially people of colour. As it is, we don’t have as many opportunities. We aren’t big celebrities that have money in the bank for months. I just really hope that it’s a fair deal.”
Actors had similar concerns to film and television writers, who argued that compensation for working-class cast members had dwindled as streaming took hold, making it hard to earn a living wage in Los Angeles and New York.
Performers also became alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, which they feared could lead to studios manipulating their likenesses without permission or replacing human actors with digital images.
A key concern of striking actors was the possibility of artificial intelligence being used to replace them with digital replicas. Source: AAP / Etienne Laurent/EPA
George Clooney and other A-list stars voiced solidarity with lower-level actors and had urged union leadership to reach a resolution.
It also led movie studios to delay big releases such as Dune: Part 2 because striking actors could not promote them. Other major films, including the latest instalment of Mission: Impossible and Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White, were postponed until 2025.
