SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) have reached a tentative agreement on terms for successor agreements to the television and radio commercials contracts, subject to approval by the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors later this month.
The tentative agreements will be submitted to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors for approval at its April 20-21 meeting. No details of the package will be released in advance of the Board’s review. Upon approval by the Board, the package will be sent to the membership for ratification thereafter.
Formal negotiations between the 34-member (26 seated members and 8 alternates) SAG-AFTRA Negotiating Committee and the ad industry’s JPC began February 14 and concluded April 6, at 1:49 a.m. EDT, in New York.
Both parties recognized the positive and productive results of this negotiation and highlighted their joint commitment to grow the work for performers under these contracts while further strengthening the industry.
“We’ve made essential gains for SAG-AFTRA members and I couldn’t be more pleased. These contracts provide our members with the solid foundation they need to sustain their careers and families,” said SAG-AFTRA National Co-President and Negotiating Committee National Chair Roberta Reardon. “I am very grateful to our negotiating committee which came together and worked as one to ensure a strong contract for their sisters and brothers who work in the commercials area.”
“These negotiations have been a positive and productive continuation of our longtime partnership with commercial performers and their representatives. I am pleased to have achieved these important industry gains in key areas and I want to thank my colleague and JPC Counsel Stacy Marcus and the other members of our negotiating team. I look forward to the approval of the SAG-AFTRA Board and ratification by their membership,” said Joint Policy Committee Lead Negotiator Douglas J. Wood.
The JPC was represented by Wood, Marcus, David Weissman with Reed Smith LLP, Linda Bennett with Saatchi & Saatchi, Kim Stevens with Arnold Worldwide, and Kathleen Quinn with the 4A’s.
SAG-AFTRA was represented by Reardon, White, Negotiating Committee Vice Chairs Sue-Anne Morrow, Allen Lulu, Ilyssa Fradin, and David Hartley Margolin, Co-Lead Negotiators Ray Rodriguez and Mathis Dunn, and Senior Advisor John McGuire.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More