SAG-AFTRA Members Ratify New TV Animation Contract by Overwhelming Margin

By an overwhelming margin, SAG-AFTRA members approved a new contract governing work on television animated projects, the guild said Wednesday night.

In a statement, the guild said the new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers passed by a vote of 87.68% to 12.32% and will apply retroactively to July 1, 2020. The new agreement expires on June 30, 2023.

The guild said the deal includes the following gains:

Wage increases of 2.5% in the first year, 3% in the second year and 3% in the third year.

A 26% improvement in residuals for high-budget animated programs made for subscription streaming services like Amazon Prime and Hulu.

A further reduction of the budget threshold that triggers high-budget coverage for half-hour animated programs made for subscription streaming services, from $550,000 to $500,000.

Scale wages apply to non-high-budget subscription video-on-demand programs of 11 minutes and longer with a budget of at least $25,000 per minute.

A 1% increase in the contribution rate to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and optional wage diversions in the second and third years that allow the union to shift 0.5% from the wage increase to the contribution rate for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan or the SAG-Producers Pension Plan/AFTRA Retirement Fund.

“This is a strong, future-focused agreement with significant gains for our members. It applies scale wages to more productions, lowers budget thresholds for half-hour HBSVOD programs and delivers additional money for the use of interstitial programs in new media,” SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement.