Hollywood’s striking actors and the entertainment industry’s top studios are heading back to the bargaining table.
The union that represents thousands of screen actors and the trade association that bargains on behalf of entertainment companies will resume negotiations over a new contract Monday, the two groups said in a joint statement Wednesday night.
“Several executives” will be there, SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in the statement. (The alliance, known as AMPTP, represents NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
The Writers Guild of America, a union that represents thousands of film and television scribes, reached an agreement on a new three-year contract with the AMPTP on Sunday, bringing a close to a strike that started May 2.
The writers strike officially ended just after midnight Wednesday.
The thousands of film and television performers represented by SAG-AFTRA have been on the picket lines since July 14, 75 days ago.
The dual strikes all but shut down the entertainment business, halting production on late-night talk shows, network series, streaming originals and big-budget movies. The resolution of the actors strike would effectively revive a paralyzed industry.
SAG-AFTRA members demand a bigger cut of the revenue generated by streaming shows, as well as increased base compensation, improved working conditions and stricter safeguards against the use of artificial intelligence technologies.
WGA members went on strike over similar issues.
SAG-AFTRA was formed in 2012 after the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (founded in 1933) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
The combined guild represents roughly 160,000 performers, from Oscar-winning A-list stars, such as Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, to radio personalities and television presenters.
The president of SAG-AFTRA is Fran Drescher, best known for playing the title role on the CBS sitcom “The Nanny.” She was elected to lead the union in September 2021 and re-elected this month.
Hollywood’s actors and writers had not been on strike simultaneously since 1960.
