The union representing most behind-the-scenes film and television crews has reached a tentative deal with the studios for its roughly 50,000 members, reducing the likelihood of another major, production-stopping strike after a year of labor woes in Hollywood.
The two sides announced the three-year agreement in a joint statement Tuesday night.
The union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said in an email to its members that the agreement includes the pay raises and artificial intelligence protections they had been demanding. Members still have to vote to approve the deal.
The contract, known as the Basic Agreement, affects approximately 50,000 crew members who belong to 13 different local unions based on the West Coast, including art directors, set painters, editors, camera technicians, costume designers, hair stylists and make-up artists.
A separate agreement affecting about 20,000 crew members across the country is still being negotiated.
Last year’s massive writers and actors strike, and 2021’s IATSE negotiations that went on long after the contract expired and nearly turned into a strike, have raised fears that 2024 could see even more job loss in an industry that has yet to fully return to work after being shut down for most of 2023.
Other actors, including Mark Ruffalo and Kerry Washington, sent a letter to the AMPTP last week urging fair contracts for crews.
Several different branches had already reached separate agreements on their own issues. The original agreement affects crew members working in a variety of jobs.
IATSE reached a settlement Tuesday night with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Prime. It’s the same alliance that struggled to reach a settlement with writers and actors during a prolonged strike last year. But the tentative basic agreement comes about a month before the previous contract expires.
The letter to IATSE members said more details about this tentative agreement will be released later this week, but it “includes new protections regarding artificial intelligence, including language that will ensure that no employee will be required to provide AI prompts in any way that would result in the displacement of any employee.”
The letter said this included pay increases of 7%, 4% and 3.5% over a three-year period, triple time for workers who work more than 15 hours a day, and payments from the studio to cover shortfalls in the union’s health insurance budget.
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