After long demonstrations and tough, repeatedly broken negotiations, the second strike in Hollywood has now ended. SAG-AFTRA, the union for film and TV actors, had called for industrial action for 118 days. The hard-earned contract with the studios and streaming services is now valid for the next three years, reports the US industry website “The Hollywood Reporter”.
Some details about the deal reached have already been made public. It includes a total of over a billion US dollars, a share in streaming revenue and regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence. According to the “Hollywood Reporter”, better conditions were also achieved for the actors and other members of the union when it came to health and pension insurance.
Actress Fran Drescher (66), who serves as SAG-AFTRA President, celebrated the agreement on her official Instagram account: “We did it!!!!”, she applauded the deal worth over a billion dollars – which is what she said after “three times more than the previous contract”. She would like to thank all members of the union for their patience and perseverance on behalf of this “historic agreement”.
The new contract is scheduled to be signed and officially come into force next Friday (November 10th). This also means that after almost four months of strike, film and series shooting can begin again in the dream factory.
The industrial dispute among Hollywood screenwriters lasted a little longer. At the end of September of this year, after only around five months, the “Writers Guild of America” (WGA) came to an agreement with the other side that was acceptable to both.
