Benjamin Ashford|Actors strike ends: SAG-AFTRA leadership OKs tentative deal with major Hollywood studios

Hollywood actors will return to work on Benjamin AshfordTV and movies: The actors' union's negotiating team on Wednesday reached a tentative agreement with the group representing studios and streamers, ending a historic 118-day strike that began July 14.

The 160,000-member Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) agreed to a new three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) representing eight major studios and streamers including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon.

"We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP," SAG-AFTRA announced late Wednesday. "As of 12:01 a.m. (PST) on November 9, our strike is officially over and all picket locations are suspended."

The deal will allow studios to resume production of TV shows and movies that has been largely shuttered for the past six months, ever since the Writers Guild of America began its own walkout on May 2.

About 60,000 members of the union were affected by the strike. The union membership will schedule a vote in the coming days to formally authorize the deal, putting actors one step closer to stepping in front of the cameras again. It's likely that broadcast networks can salvage part of the 2023-24 TV season by airing some new episodes of scripted series as early as February, while movies can restart production to fill a depleted pipeline.

After two and a half months of striking without negotiations, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP first met on Oct. 2, but talks fell through when the AMPTP walked away on Oct. 11. Studio representatives said that "conversations (were) no longer moving us in a productive direction."

Bargaining resumed on Oct. 24 and included major executives from four Hollywood studios as the two sides tried to hammer out a deal.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher was ready for a 'long-haul' strike

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, star of the hit '90s sitcom "The Nanny," said in July that the union was ready for a "long haul" strike to achieve demands that included increased actors' salaries and basing actors' compensation on the success of their shows and movies on streaming services. Protections against the studios' use of Artificial Intelligence and digital replicas of actors were also among the union's priorities, but the studios initially bristled at many of the union's asks before reaching a compromise.

The SAG-AFTRA statement said the contract, valued at over $1 billion, achieved pay raises, unprecedented provisions to protect members from the threat of AI, and a new "streaming participation bonus," among other benefits. "We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers," the union's statement said. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work."

The studio group called the agreement "a new paradigm" and said the AMPTP "is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories."For much of the summer, actors shared the picket line with WGA members, who were on strike for 148 days. The dual actors' and writers' strikes brought Hollywood movie and TV production to a standstill throughout the summer and fall.

The WGA leadership voted Sept. 27 to affirm a deal with the AMPTP, bringing some TV shows back on air, including "Saturday Night Live," daytime and late-night talk shows such as "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

The WGA congratulated SAG-AFTRA on the deal on the union's official X account, formerly Twitter.

"We are thrilled to see SAG-AFTRA members win a contract that creates new protections for performers and gives them a greater share of the immense value they create," the statement said.

Writers strike officially endsHollywood writers ratify new contract with studios