The actors union in Hollywood reached a tentative agreement with studios on Wednesday, putting an end to a strike that had paralyzed the entertainment industry for several months.
The three-year contract must still be ratified by the union’s board and its members, but the strike is set to end at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.
Over 60,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Performers had been on strike since July 14, joining the screenwriters who had started their strike more than two months earlier. This marked the first simultaneous strike by the two unions since 1960. The studios had chosen to negotiate with the writers initially, ultimately reaching an agreement that brought their strike to a close on Sept. 26.
The details of the agreement have not been released, but are expected to be shared with the actors and the public in the coming days. The negotiations involved various issues including short-term compensation, future royalty payments for film and TV performances, and control over actors’ images and likenesses regenerated with artificial intelligence.
Top executives from entertainment companies such as Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Universal directly participated in the negotiations, led by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
While the impact of the actors’ absence was not as immediately visible as that of the writers’ strike, its ripple effects, including delayed release dates and waits for new show seasons, could be felt for months or even years.
Actors are expected to swiftly return to halted movie productions, including “Deadpool 3,” “Gladiator 2,” and “Wicked.” Other movies and shows will resume shooting once the returning writers finish scripts.
With the strike coming to an end, actors will also be able to participate in red carpets, talk shows, and podcasts, as Hollywood’s awards season approaches.
The only major awards show directly affected by the strike was the Emmys, which was rescheduled from September to January. Now, the usual fall Oscar campaigns are likely to resume.
However, any sense of industry normalcy could be short-lived. The circumstances that led to the strikes—the transition from traditional theatrical and broadcast media to streaming, and emerging technologies like AI—have not been halted. The gains made by the strikes may also embolden other Hollywood unions or the same guilds in future negotiations.
Union leaders have viewed the strike as a pivotal moment, occurring amidst broader labor disputes in other industries.
“I think it’s a conversation now about the culture of big business, and how it treats everybody up and down the ladder in the name of profit,” said SAG-AFTRA President and “The Nanny” star Fran Drescher in an interview with The Associated Press in August.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director and chief negotiator leading the team that struck the deal for the guild, expressed his pride in being part of securing a fair contract for the members to protect their future, telling the AP in August, “that the 14-year-olds I talked to on the Disney picket line still have the ability to be an actor when they turn 18.”
If approved, the agreement will also allow thousands of film crew members, who were left without work during the strikes, to return to sets. SAG-AFTRA had attempted to alleviate their hardship by permitting interim agreements for some smaller productions and making their strike relief fund available to all industry workers.
• Associated Press Writer Krysta Fauria contributed to this report.
