This development comes after weeks of intensive back and forth with the producer’s representatives, the AMPTP. You may have heard the producers sent a “last, best, and final offer” last Friday. The SAG-AFTRA committee didn’t agree it was the best the producers could do, and negotiations this week have been on finalizing agreements on key factors, not the least of which was AI protections for its members. Variety has obtained some information on the deal ahead of the national board vote, and it bodes quite well for the 160,000+ members of SAG-AFTRA. Most actors’ minimums will increase by 7%, which tops the amount both WGA and DGA won by two percent. The AMPTP’s previous deal included bonuses for actors who appear on the most popular and watched shows on streaming, but we don’t yet know how that provision has fared in the final deal.
As for AI, the AMPTP were pretty adamant about keeping the right to digitally scan an actor and be able to use that likeness in perpetuity. This gets even crazier when they suggested doing that for background extras so they’d get paid for one day of work and then digitally populate the backgrounds of movies and TV shows forever.
Both sides met again this morning, and it seems they have come to an agreement. Details of the gains achieved by SAG-AFTRA are expected to be released this Friday after the national board votes, and if the recent wins by the WGA are any indication, it’s going to be an impressive list of protections for the folks who actually create and execute the content these studios depend on.