SAG-AFTRA, the union representing over 1,60,000 actors, broadcast journalists, stunt performers and voice artists reached a tentative four year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers this week, covering films, scripted television, streaming content and new media. The union's executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland made it clear he would not agree to any deal unless the studios conceded more ground on artificial intelligence.
SAG-AFTRA's main demand was simple: any AI recreation or synthetic performance must be paid on par with a real human performer, making the choice to use AI over a live actor a less attractive financial one for studios. The union had already won consent and compensation protections against AI digital replicas in 2023, and this new deal builds further on those gains.
The deal also arrives a month after the Writers Guild of America reached its own four-year agreement with the studios, the first clear signal that the industry was committed to avoiding a repeat of 2023. That year, both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA walked off the job for over four months, bringing Hollywood productions to a near-complete standstill and costing the industry billions of dollars.
The Directors Guild of America is now the last major Hollywood union yet to reach a deal, with its own negotiations set to begin on May 11. The SAG-AFTRA agreement still needs to be approved by the union's full membership before it comes into effect, and specific terms will only be made public after the national board reviews them. But with both actors and writers now covered, Hollywood appears determined to shape how AI enters the industry on its own terms.
