Posts tagged actors
Why SAG-AFTRA’s 2026 Contract Talks Matter for Los Angeles and the Business of Hollywood
January 29, 2026 // Artificial intelligence looms as perhaps the most complex issue on the table. Advances in voice replication, digital doubles and performance synthesis have raised concerns that actors’ likenesses could be reused without meaningful consent or compensation. Astin characterized AI as an immediate labor issue rather than a speculative one, particularly in a market like Los Angeles, where background performers, day players and voice actors form a large part of the workforce.
COLORADO: Casa Bonita actors, cliff divers launch strike during Halloween
October 31, 2025 // Casa Bonita workers voted to unionize in November 2024 as they sought better pay and to establish workplace protections. The restaurant and entertainment venue is a beloved historic landmark and in 2023, reopened under the ownership of locally raised celebrities Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The creators of the “South Park” TV show reportedly spent $40 million reviving the restaurant after purchasing it out of bankruptcy.
Breaking News Strike Update – Tentative Deal Reached Between Equity and the Broadway League
October 21, 2025 // No one has called for a strike quite yet. Actors' Equity Association, representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers, has argued for new a Broadway contract that ensures safe staffing, humane scheduling, sustainable working conditions, and paying fair share of benefits. Local 802, representing thousands of highly skilled musicians in New York City, is bringing similar issues to the table: fair wages that reflect Broadway’s success; stable health coverage; and employment and income security.
Talks resume as Broadway actors consider a strike
October 13, 2025 // Plays have performed better recently, especially limited runs headlined by A-list celebrities, which can charge higher ticket prices and have lower costs. Last season, seven plays made money, out of 21 that opened. Broadway musicians are also currently working under an expired contract. They are expected to bargain next week over wage increases, work rules, and health care. Bob Suttman, the president of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, said that they are "standing in lockstep" with actors.
SAG-AFTRA Confronts a Fran-less Future
August 21, 2025 // But now, with another tough contract negotiation on the horizon, SAG-AFTRA is going to have to push forward without its erstwhile leader from Queens. This time around, Drescher has decided against running for president. In her place, another celebrity, Lord of the Rings and Rudy star Sean Astin, and a rank-and-file performer, New England Local board member Chuck Slavin, are battling it out for the job. The stakes are high, given that the candidates face a darker and more foreboding landscape than the one that even Drescher confronted when she entered office in 2021 during the pandemic.
SAG-AFTRA Strike Continues: Union Sounds Alarm on AI Exploitation
March 17, 2025 // One key concern is that companies could use past recordings to generate AI performances without consent. Actors also fear losing control over their digital likenesses and demand fair pay across multiple projects. Without stricter regulations, performers risk being replaced by AI entirely. The industry's proposal includes wage increases and AI usage terms, but SAG-AFTRA argues they don't go far enough. If accepted as is, the deal could allow studios to replicate an actor's voice indefinitely – without further payment. Worse still, companies may not even be required to inform performers when their AI-generated voice is being used. This could lead to a future where human performances are sidelined, making traditional acting careers unsustainable.
Sesame Workshop Announces Major Layoffs
March 7, 2025 // Just a few months after Max said it would stop distributing episodes of Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop announced a round of major layoffs. In a letter to staff on Wednesday, March 5, president and CEO Sherrie Rollins Westin announced that Sesame Workshop will "downsize significantly," calling the cuts "necessary to ensure that the Workshop is poised to continue to deliver on its mission for years to come."
Fearing AI will take their jobs, California workers plan a long battle against tech
January 19, 2025 // More than 200 trade union members and technologists gathered in Sacramento this week at a first-of-its-kind conference to discuss how AI and other tech threatens workers and to strategize for upcoming fights and possible strikes. The Making Tech Work for Workers event was convened by University of California labor centers, unions, and worker advocates and attracted people representing dock workers, home care workers, teachers, nurses, actors, state office workers, and many other occupations.
Actors’ Equity Association halts future development contracts in wake of stalled negotiations
June 21, 2024 // Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theater, has followed through on a notice it had given to cease issuing contracts for work on its Development Agreement, effective immediately.