Hollywood actors’ union reaches tentative deal with studios to end strike

Hollywood actors are set to end their nearly four-month strike, the Sag-Aftra union announced on Wednesday, bringing to a close a historic work stoppage that had brought the film and television industry to a standstill for months.

Sag-Aftra and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, ending film and television actors’ longest strike roughly a month after writers signed their new contract. The deal came after parties had resumed talks last week following stalled negotiations in early October.

The union said the strike would officially end at 12.01am on Thursday, and the deal would go to the union’s national committee for approval on Friday, Variety reported.

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.

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 had fought for increased base pay for residuals and guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence in film and television, concerns shared by writers who fought for similar protections in their contract.

Sag-Aftra began its strike in July with top stars heading to picket lines from Los Angeles to New York, and offering their support. George Clooney called it “an inflection point in our industry”, and said change was necessary for the “industry to survive”.

The resolution of the writers strike in September left Sag leaders feeling optimistic and talks with the studios resumed in early October for the first time since their work stoppage. Studios walked away from negotiations amid a dispute over the use of AI and streaming residuals, arguing the actors’ demands were unreasonable, but came back to the negotiating table.

In late-stage negotiations over the weekend, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told union leadership: “We didn’t just come toward you, we came all the way to you,” Deadline reported.

With the strike causing film and TV productions to grind to a halt, affecting the awards season and taking a financial and mental toll on working actors, the parties had faced growing pressure to come to a resolution.

Reuters contributed to reporting