By Andrew Dalton
The union that represents most behind-the-scenes film and television crews has reached a tentative deal with studios for about 50,000 of its members, making another major, production-stopping strike unlikely after a year of labor turmoil in Hollywood.
The two sides announced the three-year deal in a joint statement Tuesday night.
The union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said in an email to members, who still must vote to approve the deal, that the agreement includes the pay hikes and artificial intelligence protections they had been vying for.
The contract, known as the Basic Agreement, affects about 50,000 crew members who belong to 13 different West Coast-based union locals, including art directors, set painters, editors, camera technicians, costume designers, hair stylists and make-up artists.
A separate agreement that affects about 20,000 crew members across the country is still under negotiation.
Last year's grueling writers' and actors' strikes, and 2021 IATSE talks that went well past the contract's expiration and nearly spilled into a strike, had raised fears that 2024 would bring more work stoppages in an industry that still hasn't gotten entirely back to work after being shut down for much of 2023.
Actors including Mark Ruffalo and Kerry Washington sent a letter to the AMPTP last week urging a fair contract for crews.
Several individual branches had already reached separate agreements on the issues unique to them. The Basic Agreement affects crew members across different jobs.
IATSE reached Tuesday night's deal 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 deal with writers and actors during prolonged strikes last year. But the tentative Basic Agreement agreement comes nearly a month before the previous contract expired.
The letter to IATSE members said more details on the tentative deal will be released later in the week, but it "includes new protections around Artificial Intelligence, including language that ensures no employee is required to provide AI prompts in any manner that would result in the displacement of any covered employee."
It also includes scale rate increases of 7%, 4%, and 3.5% over the three-year term, triple time for workers who surpass 15 hours in a day, and payments from studios to help make up for a shortfall in the union's health insurance budget, the letter said.
Andrew Dalton is an AP entertainment writer
Japan Celebrates Record 18 Emmy Wins For “Shogun”
Japan erupted with joy Monday as the samurai series "Shogun" won a record 18 Emmys for its first season.
It took home prizes including Outstanding Drama Series, as star and co-producer Hiroyuki Sanada became the first Japanese actor to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a dramatic series. Co-star Anna Sawai won best actress in a dramatic series, also a first for Japan.
"You did it. You did it. Congratulations," Takashi Yamazaki, director of " Godzilla Minus One," wrote on social media.
People followed the awards live as the wins made national headlines. Entertainment media Oricon proudly reported that a work whose spoken lines were mostly in the Japanese language "made Emmy history."
"The grand scale of Hollywood combined with the high quality of the production, including costuming, props and mannerisms; the collaboration between the Japanese professional team, headed by producer Sanada, and the local production team; as well as the acting that delivered a strong sense of reality, all came together," the report said.
Actor Kento Kaku, who starred in the 2024 series "Like a Dragon: Yakuza," said he was feeling inspired to pursue Hollywood dreams.
"After seeing how cool that was, who's not going to want to take up the challenge," he wrote on X.
Actress Tomoko Mariya said she broke into tears the moment Sanada's win was announced.
"What hardships you must have endured, choosing to leave your entire career behind in Japan and going to America alone. But it has borne fruit," she wrote, referring to Sanada's move to Los Angeles 20 years ago.
The accolades for "Shogun" reflect not only the growing diversity in American entertainment, but also the legacy of Japan's "jidaigeki" samurai films, which have... Read More