About an hour and a half ago, as of this writing, the Screen Actor’s Guild brought their strike to an end following a tentative deal with the AMPTP(Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers). While the details of the deal probably won’t be released until Friday, what we do know is that the actors will see pay increase of 7 percent, which is 2 percent higher than the director’s and writer’s guild got. Also part of the deal is a “streaming participation bonus” as well as increases in health contributions and pensions. Overall the deal is valued at about 1 billion dollars. It’s pretty significant.
One of the biggest sticking points during the strike was the use of AI or artificial intelligence like ChatGPT. What the studios had proposed initially was a one-time pay-off to an actor so they could use their likeness in any way they wanted essentially forever without compensating the actor or their estate if the actor dies. That was the one issue that SAG was not willing to budge on, and I’m glad they didn’t. The irreparable harm that could have been done to the industry would be catastrophic. Look, AI is a part of our every day reality. But the way it is used is something that requires further study and discussion. Laws need to be put in place for certain protections against the abuse of the technology. It’s something that’s going to affect ALL industries, not just Hollywood.
It never should’ve gotten to this point. The movie and TV studios got greedy and they were called out on it by the DGA, WGA, and SAG. The DGA and WGA got their deals earlier this year, but the actors really pushed to make sure that they had proper protections against the abuse of AI. The fact of the matter is, this is the studios’ fault. One hundred percent. A bunch of Wall Street-owned jackasses got the idea that they could screw actors out of what they’re owed and what they’ve worked so hard to build. Look, union negotiations can get heated and compromises have to be made on both sides. That’s how things are done, but at the end of the day, nobody’s going to be completely happy, which means something got accomplished. It’s going to be another 3 years before the contracts are up. Once I get more details on the deal that was struck between the studios and SAG, I’ll post it here with my thoughts. Just thought I’d let people know what’s up.