Now that the actors and writers strike is over, Hollywood looks to bounce back.
After four months, Hollywood’s actor union came to an agreement with studios on a new deal, officially ending the strike on Nov. 10. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) executive director and chief negotiator, shared that the deal had an 86% approval vote from members but voting will continue going into December.
Since the announcement of the new three-year deal, details about the agreement have been released to the public and more information is expected to be shared in the coming weeks. These are a few details of the new deal:
The actors fought hard against artificial intelligence. Studios will have to let actors know if they will be digitally replaced or if the actor’s image will be used with A.I. Actors will be compensated accordingly for what their digital likeness does while shooting a project. The same applies to background actors.
For compensation, the contract created a new fund that will pay actors for viewings of their project on streaming services as well as traditional residual pay. Effective immediately, actors’ wage has risen 7%, and will increase another 4% in July and another 3.5% next year.
Since actors will be paid based on streams, productions and studios will have to share the viewership number of hours a project was streamed each quarter. If a project is “successful” with domestic views, actors will receive a bonus payment.
If an actor has to relocate for a TV show or film, they will be given relocation benefits worth up to $5,000 a month for six months.
Dancers who are required to sing or singers who are required to dance will be compensated for learning a new skill.
Productions will need to hire intimacy coordinators to ensure actors’ safety and comfort while filming sensual scenes.
TV shows and movies must have hair and makeup artists available for all performers. The hair and makeup artists must also be able to work with different ethnicities and appearances.
With both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes over, what’s next for Hollywood? Hopefully a huge, cinematic comeback.
While most projects won’t start shooting or return to set in January, Deadline reported that Disney and Marvel’s “Deadpool 3,” Paramount’s “Gladiator 2,” Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice 2” and Clint Eastwood’s “Juror No. 2” are ready to film again “this week or in the near future.”
Other prominent figures in Hollywood wasted no time when the strike ended. Director James Gunn shared that his Superman movie will have a June 11, 2025 release date and news “leaked” that Pedro Pascal was playing Mr. Fantastic in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” movie.
At this rate, expect an abundance of film and TV to return in the summer of 2024 and near the end of 2024.