Big news out of Hollywood. The longest actors strike in history is finally over. Last night, union leaders voted unanimously in favor of a tentative deal, which they are calling a major victory. After going on strike for 118 days, the actors union has reached a deal [00:00:16] with the major Hollywood studios. I've been out on the picket lines with them for some of that as I'm a member of Sag-Aftra. And full disclosure, it's huge news for the actors and entertainment industry at large, which has been shut down for the better portion of this year. But is the deal any good? Well, that remains to be seen. [00:00:33] The details are still pretty slim. I'm waiting to review the full details myself, but here's what we know so far. Among the game's members. Will enjoy this new contract cycle are won more than $1 billion in new wages and benefit plan funding, a streaming participation bonus for performers [00:00:52] who work on shows in streaming that become successful minimum compensation increases that break the so-called industry pattern and help our members keep up with the harm that's been caused by inflation. And for the first time, consent, informed consent and fair compensation guardrails [00:01:11] will be in place around the use of artificial intelligence in our industry. We'll have increased pension and health caps that will channel more value into our benefit plans and funds, and we have critical new protections that are put in place for diverse communities. [00:01:27] A pretty good package, it sounds like, in the broad strokes, there are other areas of of support and achievement in these negotiations as well, including not being able to exploit actors for auditioning as much, background worker protections, background extra protections as well for extras in film and TV. [00:01:44] Sag's membership, which is over 160,000 workers strong, will now get the chance to accept or reject the deal. It's worth noting the Actors Guild members have not ever not ratified a contract, but the actors have very legitimate concerns about the consequences of artificial intelligence in their industry. [00:02:02] And they don't just mean the producers who are not that smart. Just earlier this week, it was reported that studios were still putting very concerning language about AI in their contract proposals. From a report published on Monday, the Alliance of Motion Picture [00:02:17] and Television Producers seeking to secure AI scans for schedule performers, guild members who earn more than the minimum for series regulars, $32,000 per TV episode and feature films $60,000. The company suggested clause would require studios and streamers to pay to scan the [00:02:34] likeness of schedule F performers. That was dubbed the zombie clause, and this is why the language in the AMPTP offer would see the studios and streamers secure the right to use scans of deceased performers without the consent of their estate or Sag-Aftra, [00:02:52] according to a union side source. The studios disputed that characterization, but the moniker stuck. We don't have the official text of that deal, so we can't verify either claim. We also don't know if this provision made it into the tentative final deal. The deal also did not secure a revenue sharing provision, [00:03:09] which was one of the union's goals. I mean, just to that point directly, I was disappointed to hear that they were only able to secure a bonus for successful streaming shows. How do you determine successful? There will be numbers around that, but it should be straight residuals, not oh, you get a bonus if you make a show that's hugely internationally successful, [00:03:28] make us all of our profits. It's insane. I had a show on Netflix for a long time, my game show Idiotest, and I didn't make one penny from it, airing for two years and trending on Netflix, which should be an indicator of something being successful. Hopefully that changes very significantly with this new deal. Sag-Aftra had proposed a 2% share, later dropped to 1% before a pivot [00:03:47] to a per subscriber fee. Fran Drescher, the union's president, had made the demand a priority, but companies like Netflix balked, calling it a bridge too far. Instead, the Alliance of motion picture and television producers AMPTP proposed a new residual for streaming programs based on performance metrics, [00:04:02] which the union, after making some agreements, some adjustments agreed to take for the final word on the strike will go to none other than SAG president The Nanny, Fran Drescher. As Frederick Douglass said, power concedes nothing without demand. [00:04:17] It never has and it never will. And the demands were made and met. And I'm very grateful that you know what we felt, what we said ignited a workers movement around the world. [00:04:35] It rang like a clear bell tone, and it landed in the ears of the AMPTP. They heard it and they met the moment. Her voice is a lot better to listen to these days. Let's discuss this landmark deal and what we think so far. [00:04:52] Maybe that's why the producers made the deal or the studios like, okay, yeah, yeah. No. All kidding aside, she did a. Great job. And so I'm super proud of her. And I'm proud of all the union members that were so strong, so courageous [00:05:08] and lasted all this time and showed the strength of workers. And remember, most of the actors are not at all famous or rich. Okay. Struggling to get by and and and need this deal more than anyone else. [00:05:23] And so I'm just incredibly proud of all the workers standing up for themselves all throughout the country, both in Hollywood for the writers strike. And they got a great deal on that. Now, the Sag-Aftra strike and of course, UAW with a great deal in the in the with the automakers. [00:05:39] So terrific job. It shows you what we say all the time on tight. Just try. And for so long a lot of the unions just didn't even bother trying. And so now that they tried, it turns out you can get a good deal. It turns out they are willing to share their massive profits. [00:05:57] They don't have massive profits. That's a different story. But both the automakers and these studios have massive profits. And so that's what union power and leverage is all about. Really nicely done. Yeah. It's interesting. This is a very interesting time in Hollywood with these big studios. [00:06:15] As Jack says, some of them are making record profits or certainly doing well, and some of them are not doing so well. The streaming universe hasn't been kind to everybody. But that said, it's certainly a moment for labor. You've seen it across the board. Jack mentioned UAW. I think this is one of the reasons you see Amazon preventing people from organizing [00:06:33] and sort of keeping union labor out. There's power in unions. I would like to have seen a little bit more. I thought the union actually, I don't mean to say this as please, we don't have a lot of the specifics, so it's tough to evaluate the whole thing. But let me finish more in the way of residuals. [00:06:48] I think residuals has been noted are a big problem. Netflix and other streamers don't want to show you how many people are downloading whatever. They don't want to show you how successful your show is. That is all private. It's so cloaked in secrecy that they wouldn't even agree to a third party [00:07:04] objectively evaluating that. I thought the union made a fair point and suggestion and proposal in trying to build essentially a pool of money from which performers could be paid. That didn't go anywhere. So I was disappointed in that part. I'm so proud of the the unions for getting this done, though, and for [00:07:24] stepping up at a time, as I say, which is transformational in this industry. I mean, there's a lot going on beyond AI and streaming. This business is changing. I mean, studios are changing, theaters are changing. Theatrical releases, as you know, are changing [00:07:39] even in the way they are released. So it's a it's this is a big moment in Hollywood. So congratulations. And just to quickly further elucidate Jenk's point about most of the people in the union are not rich. It's so much even further than that. [00:07:54] About 80% of Sag-Aftra members make less than $27,000 a year, while some studio chiefs make more than 100 million a year, and some have made over four and $500 million over the course of the last five years. And so it's one of the few industries where you can try to be a full time actor, [00:08:12] and you still have to be a waiter or do all kinds of other side hustles to be able to even just live. So these demands were by no means the frivolous desire, the desires of rich actors. They were the very, very real needs. And every dollar won is essential to make it possible to make a living as an actor. [00:08:28] So we're very happy this has come to a conclusion. Hey, thanks for watching the video. We really appreciate it, guys, and we appreciate it if you become members, because that allows us to be independent, honest, progressive, all the things that you don't get from corporate media and all of that is because of you guys. Hit the join button below and become one of us. [00:08:44] Become a young Turk.