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Sag-Aftra chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland rallies striking actors in outside Paramount Pictures studio last month. Chris Pizzello/AP

Actors formally end strike and usher in protections from use of AI

A ‘golden age’ for the actors and writers guild has been declared by its president on foot of the $1 billion deal.

HOLLYWOOD ACTORS OVERWHELMINGLY ratified a new, hard-fought deal with studios that paves the way for a rebound of an entertainment industry that had seen film and television production come to a halt during a months-long strike.

The Screen Actors Guild, known as SAG-AFTRA, said 78 percent of members who voted approved the multiyear contract.

“This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful,” union president Fran Drescher said in a statement.

The deal includes more than $1 billion in new compensation and benefits as well as protections for actors from the use of artificial intelligence by studios, the union said.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Netflix Inc., Walt Disney and other studios, hailed the union contract ratification.

“With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force,” the AMPTP said in a statement.

Voting ended at 5:00 pm on the US West Coast (0100 Wednesday GMT), with a simple majority of members required to finally seal the agreement.

The union said 38 percent of its members cast votes.

The tentative deal between SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios to end the actors’ 118-day strike was agreed last month, and actors had gone back to work before the ratification vote.

The proposed contract contained higher pay, better bonuses for starring in hit shows or films, and the first-ever protections against the use of artificial intelligence to replace human actors.

It was ratified by the union’s leadership two days later, though not unanimously.

Union leaders have since held meetings and sent out emails and social media posts to members, strongly urging them to approve the deal.

“Today is the day,” said SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, before the release of the voting results.

“This is a big $1 billion deal with a lot of really important gains in areas like AI, minimums, streaming money,” he said. “It’s a deal that I’m really proud of.”

- Shortcomings? -
The vote outcome was not assured, and as details of the agreement emerged in recent weeks, warnings began to circulate online about its shortcomings, particularly over the issue of AI.

Performers feared they could soon be replaced by entirely synthetic “actors,” generated by AI using the body parts of many different humans, whose likenesses have been scraped from film archives.

The deal does not prevent studios from using generative AI, but it has a clause requiring them to inform the union each time the technology is used.

SAG-AFTRA would then have the right to bargain for compensation on behalf of the actors involved — though critics say it would be hard to identify who they are.

Actors also say that the massive number of viewers a show or film needs to attract to trigger bonuses for its performers is too high for all but the very top echelon of hit shows.

– © AFP 2023

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    Mute Sean O'Sullivan
    Favourite Sean O'Sullivan
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    Apr 10th 2013, 6:02 PM

    When mine catches fire I just put it on a quick wash cycle….quenches it every time!

    40
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    Mute Frank Hindsight
    Favourite Frank Hindsight
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    Apr 10th 2013, 7:46 PM

    Mine too caught fire the other day…..I tried to warn her about lighting her farts on Fajita y Tequila night in the gaf!!

    20
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    Mute Irishboy1691
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    Apr 10th 2013, 5:29 PM

    So a free “in home repair” is the new recall and replacement?

    36
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    Mute Paula Kennedy
    Favourite Paula Kennedy
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    Apr 10th 2013, 9:29 PM

    Never put on the dishwasher when you are going to bed

    26
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    Mute brian magee
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    Apr 11th 2013, 8:09 AM

    Why’s that, people with night rates do it because its cheaper.
    The next generation of didhwashers are grid controlled and will turn them selves on in the middle of the night to avail of excess wind. And reduce the burden on the grid.

    2
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    Mute brian magee
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    Apr 10th 2013, 5:38 PM

    How many fires before it becomes a pattern?

    21
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    Mute mohamad oconnor
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    Apr 10th 2013, 5:29 PM

    Dishwasher! Not my department!!

    20
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    Mute Kay Tighe
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    Apr 10th 2013, 5:38 PM

    A dishwasher lasting that long ?

    17
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    Mute Michele Tobin
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    Apr 10th 2013, 6:17 PM

    Mines 13 years old. Survived many a child sittingvon open door!

    42
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    Mute Sinead Fox
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    Apr 10th 2013, 10:59 PM

    Mine is ’04 so 9 years old and still working well, last washing machine lasted nearly 16years…

    7
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    Mute Billy Higgins
    Favourite Billy Higgins
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    Apr 10th 2013, 9:12 PM

    Any chance of posting model numbers affected?

    17
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    Mute Fussy Galore
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    Apr 10th 2013, 11:12 PM

    Bosch are only doing something about this because of the threat of bad publicity and the pressure put on them by the Consumer Show programme on RTE TV. Bosch wouldn’t care less only for the coverage on the show and that it goes to show the importance of having a strong regulator / enforcer in such situations in order to protect consumers.

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    Mute Git Gray
    Favourite Git Gray
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    Apr 10th 2013, 11:43 PM

    It will all come out in the wash

    11
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    Mute The Red Devil
    Favourite The Red Devil
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    Apr 11th 2013, 1:30 AM

    I never put on the dishwasher when I’m going to bed- it’s to heavy

    10
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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Apr 11th 2013, 3:57 AM

    Lol lol comment of the week

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    Mute James
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    Apr 10th 2013, 7:13 PM

    Always the pump

    7
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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
    Favourite Bernadette Dunne
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    Apr 11th 2013, 3:43 AM

    I put on my washing machine and my dish washer every night and thankfully my clothes are clean and my dishes too…It’s a myth about running them at night being dangerous but I bet most of yea would run them while yea are out at work/ Shopping/or gone for lunch I save a fortune using then on the night saver too

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    Mute Alan McNamara
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    Apr 11th 2013, 5:36 AM

    Yeah but your not in the house, it’s much much worse if it went on fire and you were asleep.

    9
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