End of the Hollywood actors’ strike: Are movie premieres back?

Today, the Sag-Aftra union announced that Hollywood actors are ending a nearly four-month-long strike, bringing an end to a historic halt that has paralyzed the film and television industry for months.

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Sag-Aftra and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached a provisional agreement last night, ending the longest strike by film and television actors, approximately a month after the writers signed their new contract.

The agreement came after the parties resumed talks last week following the negotiations’ deadlock in early October.

“In a contract valued at over 1 billion dollars, we have achieved an extraordinarily far-reaching agreement,” the union declared in a public statement.

Among its accomplishments, the union stated that there were minimum compensation increases higher than expected, a “streaming participation bonus” for the first time, and “unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI.”

Actors have never had better conditions

The Hollywood producers also praised the provisional agreement for establishing “a new paradigm” for the industry. The contract “offers Sag-Aftra the largest contractual benefits in the union’s history.

We’re talking about the biggest minimum wage increase in the past forty years; a new residual for streaming programs; extensive protections for consent and compensation in the use of artificial intelligence; and significant contractual increases across the board,” stated the AMPTP in a statement on Wednesday night.

“Many thousands of performers now and in the future will benefit from this work,” Sag-Aftra said.

The union declared that the 118-day strike would be “officially suspended” at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, and all picketing would cease. The union has closed this new contract with the AMPTP, which represents Walt Disney, Netflix, and other media companies.

This breakthrough means that Hollywood can return to full production for the first time since May, once union members vote to ratify the agreement in the coming weeks.

The announcement of the end of the strike came hours after Disney CEO Robert Iger and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav presented their latest financial results. Both executives had already hinted that they expected the strike to be resolved soon.

For those who might not be aware, this means that film shootings, promotions, and premieres are back. Finally, cinema has won!

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