SAG-AFTRA
AFL-CIO, Entertainment Unions Unveil Federal Priorities For Nonprofit Artists and Journalists (Exclusive)
The Department for Professional Employees, a trade department of AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the U.S., has put forward a slate of new federal policies it hopes can create more sustainable careers in the nonprofit arts and media sectors. The policies, which speak to concerns from nonprofit workers across 12 unions,including Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA, […]
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SAG-AFTRA Says 80 Video Games Signed to Deals During Strike Against Major Studios
As SAG-AFTRA’s video game strike continues, the union stated on Thursday that 80 games were signed to agreements with the labor group that will allow them to continue work with union performers during the labor dispute. By signing on to either SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreement or tiered-budget agreement, developers on these titles can employ SAG-AFTRA performers […]
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SAG-AFTRA Praises California Bill Regulating Use of AI Digital Replicas of Dead Performers
SAG-AFTRA is praising the California state Senate for passing a law that restricts the usage of artificial intelligence-created digital replicas of dead performers. The actors union shared in a statement shortly after the passage of AB 1836 on Saturday, “For those who would use the digital replicas of deceased performers in films, TV shows, videogames, audiobooks, sound […]
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Video Game Union Performers Call for AI Protections at Disney Picket: “This Is Not Something We Can Wait For”
It was a scene that produced a sense of déjà vu: a line of performers carrying SAG-AFTRA signs and walking in circles under the blazing Burbank summer sun. This time, however, the group wasn’t film and television actors calling on studios to cede more ground on an array of demands like greater compensation in the […]
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SAG-AFTRA Deal Paves Way for Actors to License Voice Replicas to AI Advertising Marketplace
Hollywood actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has inked a deal with artificial intelligence ads marketplace Narrativ, offering union members the ability to license their digital voice likeness through the platform. Under the new pact, union performers who wish to offer their digital audio replicas on Narrativ can set their own wage rates, as long as they meet […]
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SAG-AFTRA Foundation Opens Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists, Resumes In-Person Programs in L.A.
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the nonprofit professional development and charitable arm of Hollywood’s largest union of actors, is opening the doors on Monday to its brand new Los Angeles headquarters, the Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists. The Center is located in the sprawling, stunning penthouse space of the building at 5757 Wilshire Blvd., a few […]
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Equity Stands in “Total Solidarity” With Sister Union SAG-AFTRA Amid Video Game Strike
The British sister union of SAG-AFTRA is standing in “total solidarity” with its U.S. counterparts after a strike was called against major video game studios. SAG-AFTRA had been in talks over a new contract agreement for close to two years. It would cover voice and performance capture workers on titles from Disney Character Voices, Activision […]
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SAG-AFTRA Calls Strike Against Major Video Game Studios
For close to two years, SAG-AFTRA has been in talks with major video game companies on a new contract agreement that would cover voice and performance capture workers on titles from Disney Character Voices, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Games, Insomniac Games and more. Now, at an impasse over artificial intelligence concerns, the union’s […]
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Would You Do It Again? A Year After Strikes, Hollywood Reckons With the Aftermath
“What are we doing, moving around furniture on the Titanic?,” SAG-AFTRA leader and former star of The Nanny Fran Drescher asked a packed conference room of reporters on July 13, 2023. Her union of 160,000 performers had just announced it was going on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It was joining the Writers Guild of […]
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SAG-AFTRA Beats Lawsuits Challenging COVID Vaccination Rules
SAG-AFTRA has defeated a series of lawsuits over its COVID safety guidelines outlining terms to return to work, which for a time mandated vaccination against the virus. Dorian Kingi, a stuntman with credits on dozens of films who declined to get vaccinated due to his faith and other “science, political and philosophical reasoning,” brought in […]
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Writers and Actors Scramble to Keep Their Health Insurance in a Post-Strike Hollywood
In April, actor Miki Yamashita says she received a health diagnosis that requires surgery to remove non-cancerous tumors. That’s when the performer, who has appeared on Cobra Kai and voiced a character on The Lion Guard, began the race to attempt to qualify for her union’s health insurance plan by June 30. If she earned […]
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SAG-AFTRA Health Plan to Cover Infertility Treatment Starting in 2025
The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan will soon add infertility treatment benefits to its coverage, its board of trustees stated on Saturday. The 40-member board — equally comprised of representatives for management and the performers’ union — unanimously approved the change, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Starting that year, plan participants and spouses who […]
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