SAG-AFTRA Strike: Negotiations Piled Over AI, Streaming Revenue Sharing, Pay Raises & More

SAG-AFTRA and the major studios remain at odds over a dizzying array of issues, as film and TV actors attended pickets on Friday for the first time since 1980.

According to sources on both sides, the biggest sticking point is unions’ demand for 2% of the revenue generated by streaming shows. The two sides also remain apart on basic minimum rate increases, with studios offering 5%, 4% and 3.5% over the three-year contract, while the union is asking for 11%, 4% and 4%.

But that only scratches the surface. The sides disagree on dozens of issues, only a few of which have been publicly reported.

In some cases, the two sides don’t even agree on what the disagreements are. They engaged in a rare Thursday public back-and-forth about using AI to replicate background actors.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s executive director, said the studios want to pay extra for a day’s work to scan and then reuse that likeness forever. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers hotly contested this, saying its proposal explicitly limits reuse to the project for which the extra was hired.

Here’s a breakdown of the major and minor disagreements that led to the strike.

SAG-AFTRA wants 2% of the revenue generated by each show for a streaming platform to be paid to artists. The syndicate would use Content Valuation, a measurement tool introduced last fall by Parrot Analytics, to determine how much each show is worth to the platform.

Parrot Analytics uses Google searches, social media mentions and other data sources to measure demand for each show. The metric isn’t trying to determine audience, but rather the impact of each show on a company’s revenue. To estimate this, it uses quarterly earnings data and allocates revenue, including subscriptions and ads, to each show on the platform.

SAG-AFTRA led by union president Fran Drescher argues that it is essential to pay performers for a show to be successful. The syndicate says it’s not married to Parrot Analytics, but that studies haven’t contrasted with any other way to measure performance. Studies claim to have explained early and often that the whole concept is impractical given the challenges of accurately measuring success.

Drescher was the inspiration behind the proposal, according to Crabtree-Ireland. Discussing the matter in the room, he told the AMPTP negotiators that his father, Morty, is a systems analyst and that he sees systems. He also clarified that this contractual issue is his top priority.

AMPTP offered SAG-AFTRA the same financial terms approved by the Directors Guild of America. This includes a 5% increase to most minimum rates in the first year of the contract, followed by increases of 4% and 3.5%. SAG-AFTRA claims it is not keeping pace with inflation, and has asked for 11%, 4% and 4%.

The AMPTP also offered further raises for some categories of performers: 11% for background actors and 58% for guest stars on streamed shows. (On the latter point, SAG-AFTRA agreed to the increase.)

SAG-AFTRA is also looking for a 230% increase in foreign streaming residuals, according to a study source. The AMPTP offers the same increase expected for the ADI: 76%.

SAG-AFTRA isn’t trying to ban AI, but wants to make sure that any use of an artist’s likeness to generate a new performance is done with compensation and consent. The AMPTP says it agreed to this, but Crabtree-Ireland said the devil is in the details.

It’s a very cleverly put together proposition that a layman looking at it might not see all the holes, he said. There are huge holes through which you can drive a Mack truck.

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The union wants to require that an artist must consent to any use of their performance to train an artificial intelligence system. The AMPTP would accept that for training AI used to alter or recreate the likeness of the performers. But according to Crabtree-Ireland, the AMPTP would give studios carte blanche to train AI systems to create synthetic artists or for other purposes.

SAG-AFTRA also wants the studios to get union consent on individual uses of AI, which the studios have refused to grant. There is also the dispute over supporting actors.

SAG-AFTRA wants to limit the use of self-recorded auditions, which have become the industry standard in the wake of the pandemic. The union wants to limit such hearings to no more than five pages of material. The AMPTP has offered a limit of eight pages. The two sides are also working on terms on delivery times and a provision that would clarify that no special lighting or equipment is needed.

Producers pay contributions to pension and health plans based on artists’ earnings up to a certain threshold. For a half-hour episode, the ceiling is $15,000; for one hour that’s $24,500. SAG-AFTRA wants to raise these ceilings to $45,000 and $75,000, respectively, to account for 40 years of inflation. The AMPTP has agreed to raise the caps to $20,000 and $30,000.

Actors Access is a website that holds a virtual monopoly on posting casting notices. Actors can sign up and post their biographies and audition materials and get in touch with jobs. The site has both a free and premium tier, and there is a fee for uploading reels. SAG-AFTRA argues that those who pay for the premium tier get preferential treatment. The union would mandate that actors seeking work under contract do not have to pay for access to jobs.

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Gary Marsh, who runs the company, said actors don’t have to pay to upload audition materials. He said he was unaware of how his company was involved in the negotiation. The AMPTP said it could not accept a provision intended for a third party that is not part of the negotiation.

In the age of streaming, actors have been forced to wait ever longer periods to find out if their show has been renewed. This is one of the main ways the move to streaming has impacted actors’ pay. SAG-AFTRA struck a deal with Netflix last year that limits option periods to 18 months from the start of production on a season. The union would like to get the same deal with the rest of the companies represented by the AMPTP. The studio team says it has agreed to do this for actors making less than $65,000 an episode in half-hour shows and less than $70,000 an episode in hour-long shows.

The SAG-AFTRA contract only covers supporting actors in a handful of places across the country, most notably, New York and Los Angeles. The union would like to represent the extras throughout the United States. The AMPTP said it cannot use contract negotiation to expand its jurisdiction, and this is a non-mandatory bargaining item. SAG-AFTRA withdrew the proposal.

SAG-AFTRA also maintains that its contract should cover performance-capture acting. Performance capture isn’t explicitly covered, although much of that work is done under the terms of the contract anyway. As with the background plaintiff issue, the AMPTP said the union is misusing negotiation to expand its jurisdiction.

(Pictured: SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher)