Hollywood’s unions and guilds are in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers to renew their COVID safety protocols, which expire Tuesday amid mounting pressure to end a mandate that gives employers the limited option to require vaccinations as a condition of employment.
SAG-AFTRA announced on Monday evening that it has reached a tentative agreement with the major studios on actor exclusivity periods, an issue that has become a top priority for the union in recent years. The issue affects actors on TV series, who can find themselves barred from working on other projects for many months or even years between TV seasons. The union has said that the issue has grown acute in the streaming era, with seasons getting shorter and with longer delays between seasons.
Members of Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year film and TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The vote, counted Wednesday night, was 89% for ratification and 11% against, with 67% of the eligible members casting ballots. The local did not release the actual vote totals.
Thousands of hours of television programming are becoming available to rerun on digital networks and cable channels after new residual agreements between studios and Hollywood’s three largest unions. The shows now freed from “residual gridlock” include old broadcast series like Charlie’s Angels and The Flying Nun and newer made-for-cable programs like Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy.
SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with production companies for a three-year master contract covering movie and primetime TV work. The performers union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached the agreement late Thursday following nearly two months of negotiations — and three 24-hour extensions of the contract expiration.
Exclusives
The new extension of the Area Standards Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers runs through July 31, 2015 and includes 2% annual wage increases and an increase in health plan contributions of $5 per day in each year of the three-year agreement (i.e., $5/day the first year, $10/day the second, and $15/day the third).
Hollywood’s film and TV writers will begin negotiations with the major studios on a new film and TV contract this week. The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced in a joint statement that talks on a new three-year contract would begin Thursday. The guild’s current contract expires May 1.
