Below-the-line workers in Hollywood represented by IATSE, Teamsters and other trade unions sat down Monday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), beginning the first step in a lengthy contract negotiation process.

If the unions can’t reach a deal with the AMPTP by the time the current contract expires on July 31, IATSE’s negotiating committee may call for a strike authorization vote. 

And if ultimately a strike vote were to pass, below-the-line workers including motion picture animators, camera operators and production technicians would stop work until a new tentative agreement is reached.

Sound familiar?

In addition to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees  and Teamsters Local 399, the other guilds participating in joint negotiations are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 40 (IBEW), Laborers International Union of North America Local 724 (LiUNA!), United Association Plumbers Local 78 (UA) and Operating Plasterers & Cement Masons International Association (OPCMIA) Local 755.

All of the aforementioned groups' contracts expire on July 31, and IATSE has already stated it's “not interested in extending this agreement.” But considering the complexity of negotiations with this many unions, forging an agreement with the AMPTP could prove trickier than what transpired last year with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, which both conducted paralyzing strikes lasting through the summer. 

Covering more than 60,000 industry members, IATSE has two sets of contracts on the table: the Basic Agreement, which encompasses 13 of the union’s local Hollywood constituencies; and the Area Standards Agreement, which covers 26 locals outside of Los Angeles. Negotiation for the Area Standards agreement are expected to begin later in April.

IATSE underwent a difficult contract negotiation in 2021, taking multiple bargaining extensions, and only ratified a new deal after a six-month long process. 

IATSE’s extensions in the last bargaining process also delayed the Teamsters’ negotiations -- the group didn't begin talks with the AMPTP until December, almost six months after its contract’s expiration date.

Wages are sure to be a focal point of negotiations, especially given the effects of inflation, pandemic-related shutdowns and work stoppages due to last summer’s strikes.

The guilds will begin by trading initial proposals for the basic agreement, and update membership with regular developments at the table, according to IATSE’s website.

Once those general negotiations finish, the other unions will step aside as each of IATSE’s 13 local unions have the chance to bargain on the terms of their guild’s basic agreement during the next several weeks.

Union members then have to vote again to decide whether to ratify the proposed deal.

While it’s liable to be a lengthy negotiation process, both sides are likely hesitant to initiate another work stoppage after last year’s summer of strikes cost an estimated $6 billion in lost wages and business impacts across California and other production-heavy states, according to Reuters.

SAG-AFTRA union members officially ratified the agreement that ended the strike against the studios.

The vote was 78.3% to approve the pact versus 21.7% opposed. SAG-AFTRA said 38.15% of members participated in the national vote.

“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership,” said union president Fran Drescher. “They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology. Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract.”

The new agreement gives actors new compensation and benefits, with an “outsized” gain in residuals and a new model for compensation in streaming content. 

The deal also creates guardrails for informed consent and compensation for the use of artificial intelligence.

“The AMPTP member companies congratulate SAG-AFTRA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents historic gains and protections for performers. With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force," the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers said in a statement.

The agreement is effective retroactive to November 8 and expires June 30, 2026.

Drescher looked ahead to the next negotiations with the studios.

“AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle,” she said. “This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”

Talks between actors union SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios broke down Wednesday, with the entertainment companies suspending negotiations on a new contract. 

According to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, negotiations were canceled because the sides remain too divided.

“After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving in a productive direction,” said the studio alliance in an emailed statement Wednesday night.

In a message to members after midnight, SAG-AFTRA accused the alliance of engaging in “bully tactics,” and claimed that the studios walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter the union’s latest offer.

“The companies are using the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA — putting out misleading information in an attempt to fool our members into abandoning solidarity and putting pressure on our negotiators,” the actors guild said. “But, just like the writers, our members are smarter than that.”

The key point of contention is a union demand to share in streaming revenue, which the AMPTP says would cost $800 million a year. SAG-AFTRA said that figure was inflated by 60%, and that its proposal would cost the average streaming platform 57 cents per subscriber per year.

Company executives have rejected the union’s demands to share in streaming revenue, which would be in addition to existing residuals. The AMPTP said such a concession would “create an untenable economic burden.”

Also critical to negotiations is reaching common ground on the use of generative artificial intelligence, which actors say represents a threat to their livelihoods.

The AMPTP said its proposal requires written and informed consent to digitally replicate a performer and prohibits further use of that replica without additional consent.

But SAG-AFTRA said the alliance’s proposal doesn’t offer enough protections, and that studios want to “demand consent on the first day of employment for use of a performer’s digital replica for an entire cinematic universe.”

“We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed,” SAG-AFTRA told its members. “We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day.”

Film and TV actors have been on strike since July, and urged members to continue showing up at picket lines to express their solidarity.

Talks to end the strike by SAG-AFTRA were suspended amid disputes over revenue sharing and artificial intelligence.

The actors union’s negotiating committee accused the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), of “bully tactics” and distributing misleading information about its proposals.

The AMPTP said that after the union’s proposal on October 11,  it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction.

The two sides had med for five days, prompting expectations that the actors union was near a deal, like the Writers Guild of America, which ended its strike and ratified a new agreement. But those were shattered after Wednesday’s talks, with the union accusing industry CEOs of walking away from the bargaining table.

The AMPTP was especially critical of a SAG-AFTRA revenue-sharing proposal, which it claimed would cost $800 million a year by itself.

The union said that during negotiations, it had made “big, meaningful counters on our end, including completely transforming our revenue share proposal.”

The revenue-sharing plan would cost the media companies less than 57 cents per subscriber per year, according to the union, but the studios “intentionally misrepresented to the press the cost of the above proposal — overstating it by 60%.”

While the union claimed the latest offer from the studios was worth less than previous proposals, the AMPTP said its offer included a first-of-its-kind, success-based residual for high-budget SVOD productions; the highest percentage increase in minimums in 35 years, which would generate an additional $717 million in wages and $177 million in contributions to the Pension and Health Plans during the contract term; and a 58% increase in salaries for major role (guest star) performers wages on high budget SVOD programs.

The studios said they also met “nearly all” of the union’s demands on casting, including guardrails around self-tapes, options for virtual and in-person auditions, and accommodations for performers with disabilities.  

In addition, the studios said that they offered substantial protections against actors being replaced by artificial intelligence.

The union rejected those assertions, saying, “These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue your work generates for them.”

The union said it will continue to strike as long as it takes.

“We feel the pain these companies have inflicted on our members, our strike captains, IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts union members, and everyone in this industry,” SAG-AFTRA said. “We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed. We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day.” 

In its statement, the AMPTP said, “We hope that SAG-AFTRA will reconsider and return to productive negotiations soon.”

The actors union, SAG-AFTRA, and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers said they will resume negotiations on a new contract on October 2.

A joint statement from SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP specified that “several executives from AMPTP member companies will be in attendance."

The announcement follows the end of the strike by the Writers Guild of America at 12:01 a.m. (PT) on Wednesday. The writers have been on picket lines since May.

Union officials recommended the proposed new contract and have given the OK for writers to return to work, pending ratification by members.

The writers strike ended after senior media company executives personally joined the bargaining.

SAG-AFTRA went on strike in July, joining the writers and effectively shutting down production of nearly all theatrical films and scripted television shows.

With the end of the writers strike, some talk shows have started making plans to produce new episodes.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Saturday will mark four full months, the day Hollywood’s writers officially went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). And outside Paramount Studios, tempers run just as hot as the 93-degree late-August weather.

The Writers Guild of America strike that began on May 2 also marked the union's first work stoppage since 2007, when a three-month strike cost motion picture and television industries an estimated $2.1 billion in output. A film set can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars every day, said Kevin Klowden, chief strategist with the Milken Institute, putting potential losses for this four-month strike at well over $1 billoin.

But the WGA strike, along with SAG/AFTRA's current work stoppage, which began in mid-July, likely won’t be ending anytime soon, as the frustration on the front line is palpable. With signs that read “Disrupt This” (accompanied by an illustration of a middle-finger), “All I see is corporate greed,” “Show me the money,” “Zaslav wanna be rich, Zaslav wanna be king," writers and actors alike filled the crosswalks outside Paramount and other studios once again Tuesday.

“There is physical fatigue. It's hard to walk all day in the heat” said Haley Harris, a writer and WGA coordinator who’s been involved in negotiations since November. 

“But emotionally, there hasn't been any fading. Everybody is still very mad, and rightfully so — it’s like training for a marathon. We knew what we were getting into.”

Just last week, the AMPTP offered a revised contract to the WGA, which the guild called “neither nothing, nor nearly enough.” Both have since seemingly left the table.

Also read: The WGA Strike Thaws? Writers and Studios Set to Meet for a Fourth Consecutive Day

“There was a little bit of optimism because there hadn’t been talks for 102 days and we knew our leadership negotiating committees would only engage in talks if it seemed like the AMPTP was serious,” added Harris. "It turns out they weren’t.”

“They put out a statement in hopes that it would split our membership up and divide us,” said Colleen Klinefelter, another picketing writer whose credits include Grown-ish. “And we didn’t do that because we know what a bad contract looks like.”

WGA demands include more equitable profit distribution, industry adaptation to rising prices, proper residual payments and protection against the use of artificial intelligence.

“We’re watching the studios choose to implode in real time rather than be remotely transparent about their viewership numbers,” Klinefelter said. “And it’s become increasingly frustrating to see what they would rather give up than their numbers.”

Perhaps the most critical issue in conflict is the way in which residual payments will be handled, considering the dominance of streaming services in the entertainment industry. Harris, who is also a published screenwriter, believes that the guild’s demands are not unreasonable.

“I’ve worked for Netflix, and I’ve worked for HBO, but I just got my first residual check from Lifetime," she said. "Nobody is saying that Lifetime makes as much money as Netflix, but this business model works, and it has worked.”

Shows like Abbott Elementary, for example, air on ABC (a traditional television network) and are also streamed on Disney-controlled subscription service Hulu. While writers would take a significant portion of revenue in residuals for reruns on the ABC network, payouts for streaming under the current AMPTP contract are far smaller.

“They told us that they don’t have the money, and they’ve proven to us in four months that they do have the money -- because they’re willing to lose it,” Klinefelter said.

“It’s hard, don’t get me wrong. There are some days where I don’t want to get up and go, but seeing that our solidarity has improved — that’s why I think we’re going to win," she added. 

The striking Writers Guild of America said its negotiating committee met with top media company executives including The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos Tuesday. It didn’t go well.

“We were met with a lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was,” the union negotiating team told members in an email. 

“This wasn’t a meeting to make a deal,“ the negotiators said. “This was a meeting to get us to cave, which is why, not 20 minutes after we left the meeting, the AMPTP released its summary of their proposals.”

After the meeting, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), representing the studios, networks and streaming services, released its proposal, going directly to the union’s members.

“This was the companies’ plan from the beginning — not to bargain, but to jam us. It is their only strategy — to bet that we will turn on each other," the union committee said. “Tomorrow we will send a more detailed description of the state of the negotiations. And we will see you all out on the picket lines so that the companies continue to see what labor power looks like.”

The AMPTP said the proposal it sent to the WGA on August 11 was “a comprehensive package which addresses all of the issues the Guild has identified as its highest priorities.”

According to the studios, the proposal calls for a 13% increase in wages over three years, plus an increase in residual payments for high-budget SVOD programs.

The proposal called for a minimum of 10 weeks of employment for writers in program development rooms, protections for writers surrounding the use of generative artificial intelligence and a pledge to share confidential viewership data with the WGA. 

“The AMPTP member companies are committed to reaching an equitable agreement to return the industry to what it does best: creating the TV shows and movies that inspire and entertain audiences worldwide,” the group said in its statement.

 After almost 100 days on the picket lines with no signs of progress at all, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) revealed yesterday that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has “reached out to the union and asked for a meeting this Friday to discuss negotiations.”

The ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes are having a devastating impact in Hollywood, where the economic pain is trickling down to behind-the-scenes, below-the-line workers and related service industries. The WGA estimated that the strike is costing California’s economy $30 million a day, but that was before the actors union, SAG-AFTRA, launched its own parallel strike July 14.

FilmLA recently reported that TV drama production in Los Angeles county fell by 63.8% in Q2, while TV comedies were down by 72% compared to the same period last year.

But while news that the two sides are willing to meet on Friday marks the first sign of progress since writers walked off the job May 2, it’s far from a major breakthrough. According to a report from Deadline, Friday’s discussions “are centered on creating committees to examine the issues. The topics at the top of the agenda include minimum staffing, duration of employment, a viewership-based streaming residual and AI.”

In other words, they’re just getting started.

The Penske trade pub reported last month that from the outset, the studios’ plan was to “let the writers go broke” before resuming negotiations in the fall, and that the studios planned to hold their breath until late-October before reaching a deal.

The publication cited one unnamed studio exec saying, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”

But the AMPTP is made up of both traditional studios and streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon and Apple and while they both make TV, they have very different business models and agendas.

Moody’s Investors Service recently estimated that in the end, settling with the unions could cost the studios as much as $400-600 million per year and added that a prolonged work stoppage would hurt traditional TV before big streamers.  

“Television will bear the brunt of a long strike as the implications of the two striking unions will play out more noticeably for TV networks, stations, cable channels...“ Moody’s said. “TV networks, particularly broadcast networks, consistently schedule new primetime shows to begin in the fall. Cable networks vary in their exposure to original scripted content and, therefore, only some are exposed…”

But the analyst added that the least at risk would be global streaming platforms who are “well-positioned financially, have little or no exposure to the declining linear ecosystem and have diverse sources of content — both in terms of production and libraries.”

Indeed, studios with a linear broadcast business to maintain were left empty-handed entering this year’s upfront season where the TV networks try to pre-book ads for the coming year, especially during their buzzworthy new fall premieres.

Instead, they’ve been forced to rely heavily on reality TV for the fall season, largely contributing to a weak upfront sales market this year.

Netflix, meanwhile, recently reported that its nascent advertising initiative had no material impact on Q2 earnings, and with its international pipeline of new content and vast library, it was obvious from day one that the streaming giant was in the best position to weather a prolonged strike. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told investors on the company's earnings call that the streaming giant had upped its free cash flow estimates for the year by $1.5 billion due to lower content spending during the work stoppages.

Michael Nathanson, founding partner of SVB MoffettNathanson, recently told CNBC’s Squawk Box that the strikes play to Netflix’s strengths. “The problem here for the strikers is that it’s going to make Netflix stronger and their competitors weaker,” he said.

While most of the writers’ demands focus on monetary issues the widely-publicized paucity of their dwindling residuals, the issue of artificial intelligence in the creative process has emerged as a much more thorny topic in both strikes.

In May, when the writers walked out, the AMPTP put out a statement saying that AI technology, “raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everybody… Writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted. So it’s something that requires a lot more discussion, which we’ve committed to doing.”

At least, with the two sides finally sitting down at the negotiating table, they’ll be able to start those discussions.

The Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), ending the threat of two major Hollywood talent guilds being on strike at the same time. 

The DGA’s deal includes not just improvements in wages and benefits, but also a major bump in foreign residuals from subscription streaming companies and protection of replacement threats from artificial intelligence.

In fact, foreign streaming residuals received one of the biggest pushes from DGA leaders, who complain that the current rules dramatically undervalue international distribution. 

“Every member of our union can be proud of the gains we’ve achieved across the board,” said Russell Hollander, national executive director of the DGA, in a statement. “Significantly, and for the first time ever, global SVOD residuals will be paid based on the number of international subscribers. The result is a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the biggest services. As our industry becomes increasingly global, these gains are imperative to ensuring our members are valued and compensated for their incredible work.”

The DGA brass now must sell the agreement to the guild's 19,000 members and get it ratified. 

The template effect of the agreement is said to be minimal in solving the month-old Writers Guild of America strike. 

But here are the major deal points for the DGA:

• Big gains in wages and benefits include a 5% increase in the first year of the contract, 4% in the second year and 3.5% in year three. And an additional 0.5% was kicked in to fund a new parental leave benefit.

• DGA members won a substantial increase in the foreign residuals for dramatic programs made for SVOD by securing a new residual structure to pay foreign residuals. This amounts to a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the largest subscription streaming platforms. Residuals for a one-hour episode will now be roughly $90,000 for the first three years of exhibition.

• The agreement also establishes the industry’s first-ever terms and conditions for directors and their teams on non-dramatic (variety and reality) programs made for subscription streaming. Also for the first time, associate directors and stage managers will now get a piece of residuals.

• The agreement stipulates that artificial intelligence is not a person and that generative AI cannot replace the duties performed by DGA members.

• The deal stipulates the industry’s first-ever terms, creative rights protections, working conditions and residuals for scripted dramatic projects made for free-to-consumer ad-supported streaming. Unit production managers and assistant directors will share in the residuals.

• For pay TV and SVOD, episodic directors receive expanded paid post-production creative rights. They also added an additional guaranteed shoot day for one-hour programs. That's the first additional day added in more than 40 years.

• For the first time, feature film directors will receive compensation for the months of “soft prep” they have to perform — currently for free — prior to the start of the director’s official prep period.

• DGA member assistant directors won an unprecedented one-hour reduction in the length of their work day.

• The agreement outlines safety advancements, including the first-ever pilot program to require the employment of dedicated safety supervisors. Also included are expanded safety training programs for both directors and their teams, as well as the ban of live ammunition on set.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said it reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, averting a strike that had been called for Monday.

The union said the contract calls for significant increases in compensation to be paid by new media companies at a time when video consumption is shifting to streaming.

The pact also provides for reasonable rest periods, meal breaks and raising the bottom of the pay scale to a living wage, according to the union.

“This is a Hollywood ending,“ IATSE International president Matthew Loeb said. “Our members stood firm. We are tough and united. We went toe-to-toe with some of the richest and most powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world, and we have now reached an agreement with the AMPTP that meets our members’ needs.”

The tentative agreement still must be ratified by IATSE members.

IATSE’s below-the-line workers include camera operators, grips, prop makers, set dressers, makeup artists, editors, script coordinators, publicists and many other job categories key to producing film and television.

“Our members will see significant improvements, but our employers also will benefit,” said Mike Miller, VP and motion picture director for IATSE. “This settlement allows preproduction, production and post-production to continue without interruption. Workers should have improved morale and be more alert. Health and safety standards have been upgraded.”

The Directors Guild of America has voted unanimously to approve a new three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, including streaming residuals topping traditional TV.

The agreement includes wage and residual base increases of 2.5% in the first year and and 3% in the second and third years. 

Negotiations began Feb. 10 and the perspective side's negotiating teams struck the deal March 5. The current contract expired June 30; the new contract expires June 30, 2020. 

"As the streaming sea change we anticipated for so long is now overhauling the industry, and new services continue to enter the market, this pivotal deal boosting streaming residuals beyond traditional TV levels is a major victory for our members..." said DGA president Thomas Schlamme. 

No surprise given the billions of dollars being spent on streaming originals, but DGA said that since 2016 the number of made-for subscription video on demand (SVOD) episodes has doubled, and that isn't even taking into account new streaming services Disney+, HBO Max Apple TV+ and Peacock. 

Among the highlights of the deal, according to DGA. 

Made-For-SVOD: 

o "A nearly 50% increase in residuals for members working on original SVOD series, bringing the three-year residual for a 60-minute series on the highest subscriber SVOD services to more than $73,000. To put the accomplishment in perspective, when combined with the gains from the 2017 agreement, the residual is up nearly fivefold from under $15,000 in 2016, and exceeds the average residuals earned from all markets for the most popular network series. 

o "Lower budget made-for-SVOD series will now also be captured under the new contract – expanding the scope of coverage to many more series and ensuring the vast majority of members working in this space benefit from DGA-negotiated terms, residuals and creative rights. 

o "Elimination of 'grandfathering," by which series that began production during a prior contract continued to be governed by the terms of that prior contract, even in subsequent seasons. Under the new agreement, grandfathering will be eliminated,enabling more members working on SVOD series to benefit from the newly negotiated terms."

Pension plan: 

o "Increased funding for the DGA-Producer Pension Plan. Even though it is the best- funded in the industry, the Guild sought to further secure the Plan from potential downturns in the market. 

  ▪ "The Employer contribution rate to the Pension Plan will permanently increaseby one percent (1%) in the first year of the agreement from 7% to 8%.

  ▪ "The DGA will also have the right to allocate up to .5% of the negotiatedincreases in salary rates in the second and third years of the Agreement to either the Directors Guild of America-Producer Pension Plan or the Directors Guild of America-Producer Health Plan. 

  ▪ "Increases in the caps upon which pension contributions are made.

TV Director Creative Rights:

o "Gains to address the continuing and growing problem of late scripts – which result in reduced prep time, and negatively impact a director’s ability to deliver the most compelling episode possible on time and on budget.

o "The creative rights negotiation also made progress in restricting electronic transmissions from set, securing additional cutting time for directors of pilots and first episodes of series without pilots, and protecting the director’s right to participate fully in the casting process."

The Directors Guild of America said it has struck a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on a new, three-year contract. 

Negotiations began Feb. 10. The current contract expires June 30, so they are ahead of the game.  

The agreement must still be submitted to the guild's national board, which will hold a special meeting March 7 to vote on the agreement, after which details will be released. Both sides agreed not to talk to the media until that vote.