Hollywood's 118-day strike ends: SAG-AFTRA secures groundbreaking deal

After 118 days on strike, SAG-AFTRA reached a three-year deal with studios that according to the Hollywood Acter's Union is "set to change the future" of the industry.

But the fight might not be over just yet...  

Actress and Hartsdale native Darra Boyd has appeared in hit shows such as Netflix's Orange Is The New Black, Salt and Tower Heist. FOX5 NY's cameras caught up with her on Day One of the strikes back in July.

"I'm one of those 160,000 union members. That is not Gabrielle Union. That is not Megan Goode. That is not anyone that's making a million dollars at the heart of the issue," said Boyd while picketing in NYC this summer.
 

Actor Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, center, hugs colleagues during a news conference in Los Angeles, California, US, on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. A historic 118-day strike that halted television production, delayed movie releases and shut down


No details of the deal have emerged but the biggest sticking points had been a larger share of the streaming profits and the use of artificial intelligence.

"For me personally, it really was an increase in what we make as our base rate pay," says Boyd, speaking with FOX5 after an agreement had been reached. "Post-Covid we've all noticed how things have increased in pricing and it was a lot to kind of maintain the same rates that we were always getting. AI was a really big thing because it's very scary to see that someone else can own your likeness and image and you have no control over it! Even in the broadest of negotiations—I don't want anyone to have a say in my face. It's my face."

Actor Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, center left, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, center right, and other members of the negotiating team during a news conference in Los Angeles, Califor



Darra's biggest concern remains: "What's next?"

"We did spend a lot of time trying to get our rights together. That was our summer and in New York—any actor knows, that theater in the summertime is the high season for shoot schedule—now we need to know if those schedules are going to come back, if they're going to be at a later date."

Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA's Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, said "The gains made in the deal justified the struggle." According to a press release by the union, more than one billion dollars in new wages and benefit lan funding was established for members in the new deal.