SAG-AFTRA strike ends: Actors’ union reaches tentative agreement with Hollywood studios after 118 days

After 118 days of strike, the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union and the studios reached a tentative deal on a new contract.

The breakthrough means Hollywood can ramp up to full production for the first time since May, once union members vote to ratify the deal in the coming weeks.

The union said negotiators had reached a preliminary deal on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney, Netflix and other media companies.

Members of SAG-AFTRA went on a strike in mid-July asking for an increase in minimum salaries, a share of streaming service revenue, and protection from being replaced by ‘digital replicas’ generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Sharing the news, SAG-AFTRA tweeted, ‘A huge shoutout to our LA members who joined the picket lines today. Thank you for your dedication during this fight. We are #SagAftraStrong TOGETHER. #SagAftraStrong’

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s executive director and chief negotiator, said the gains made in the deal justified the struggle.

'It’s an agreement that our members can be proud of. I’m certainly very proud of it. We said we would only accept a fair, equitable and respectful deal, and that’s precisely what this deal is. So I think our members, as we are able to release more of the details of it, will look at them and say, now this is something that was worth being on strike for,' Crabtree-Ireland told The Associated Press in an interview.

Many A-list stars including George Clooney voiced solidarity with lower-level actors and urged union leadership, including SAG-AFTRA President and ‘The Nanny’ actor Fran Drescher, to reach a resolution.

Many film and TV sets shut down when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called a strike in the spring. WGA members returned to writing scripts in late September, but the ongoing SAG-AFTRA work stoppage left many productions dark.

The disruptions cost California more than $6 billion in lost output, according to a Milken Institute estimate.

Major films, including the latest installment of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise and Disney's live-action remake of the animated classic ‘Snow White’, were postponed until 2025.

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