Following approval from its national board, SAG-AFTRA has released the details of its tentative bargaining agreement with Hollywood studios and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which like the one ratified by the Writers Guild of America will last four years instead of the usual three.
As part of the agreement, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP have agreed to merge the SAG-Producers Pension Plan and AFTRA Retirement Fund into a single merged plan with an additional 1% to the studio contribution rate. The merge is expected to be completed by January 1, 2028, nearly 16 years after SAG and AFTRA merged in 2012.
The full 18-page summary of the agreement can be read here.
On the AI front, the union touted new and expanded guardrails regarding “synthetic performers,” the term used for performers created completely from generative AI that are not replicas of a specific performer. SAG-AFTRA says that the deal is based on a principle “strongly favoring human performances” and includes a memorandum of understanding stating that producers do not intend to use synthetic performers in a human role unless it would bring “significant additional value” to the motion picture.
Beyond synthetic performers, new language has been added to the contract forbidding producers from using a digital replica of a performer to replace them during a strike and requiring them to have an “articulable business reason” to scan someone for a digital replica to begin with. Further protections for digital replicas of minors were also negotiated.
Beyond AI, the usual wage increases of 3% per year were included in the contract, a return to usual minimum raises after the 2023 contract, which came after a months-long strike, saw a 7% increase in the first year of the contract followed by 4% and 3.5% in the subsequent year.
The 2026 contract also brings a 1% increase in studio health plan contributions, along with a 1% increase per year to the plan’s eligibility threshold and a one-time quarterly eligibility premium increase to account for inflating healthcare costs across the U.S.
Other gains include an average 5% increase in residuals owed to performers when films and TV programs move to streaming platforms, as well as increased health and pension plan contributions from those residuals.
SAG-AFTRA also negotiated an increase in the studios’ contributions to the recently launched Success Bonus Distribution Fund. Now, any film or TV show seen by 20% of a streaming service’s subscriber base triggers a contribution from the studios to that fund equivalent to 35% of the total residuals owed to actors from that title, compared to 25% on the previous contract.
Other gains include requirements for producers to offer as many virtual auditions as possible for actors who wish to use them in lieu of self-tape auditions for many categories of TV roles, improvements on relocation allowances for series regulars, establishment of a parental leave fund, and for the first time, inclusion of choreographers in the union contract.
“This contract is a testament to the incredible unity and determination of our members, and I am proud to deliver an agreement that results in meaningful gains across the board, from benefit plans to artificial intelligence to residuals, and beyond,” national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement.
“In my view, this is a very strong deal that builds on the gains of 2023. It is a structural agreement that confronts the realities of streaming economics, artificial intelligence, digital identity, pension stability, data transparency, and the increasingly fragmented nature of employment in our business,” said SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin. “I am proud and pleased to send it to the membership with my full support for ratification.”
SAG-AFTRA was the first union to begin negotiations back in February, and held talks with the AMPTP for five weeks before pausing to allow the studios to begin their talks with the Writers Guild. The two sides returned to the negotiating table on April 27 and announced their tentative deal on May 2.
More to come…