Dear Members,

32.39% of the National Board of Directors voted NO on this deal.

The phrase “historic gains” doesn’t tell the full story.  This contract enshrines historic losses and missed opportunities.   

This deal was negotiated during an unprecedented global health and economic crisis.  Our country has turned to performers for warmth, humor, and inspiration.  The value of our services is growing, not shrinking.  Even through the shared pain of this moment it’s our duty to negotiate with strength to fiercely protect your wages, residuals, health, safety, and the survival of our Pension and Health Plans.  

KEY CONCERNS  

Syndication 

• Destroys our decades-old fixed residual formula.

  • Up to 90% reduction.

  • Total 3-year loss of $70 million.

  • 8-year loss of $170 million.

  • 2019 earnings of $95 million will plummet to $16 million.

  • Affects 35,000 individual performers.

• Pre 1998 episodes will have your P&H contribution deducted from your residual.

Pension & Health 

• 1.5% of the proposed 2% P&H increase will be deducted from your wage increase.

• Members working under an AFTRA contract receive zero individual pension increases, bypassing them, going straight to the AFTRA Retirement Plan. 

Advanced Payment of Residuals

• The Netflix deal achieved a 15% cap, while studios can continue to apply a significantly higher percentage.   

Background 

• Of the promoted $318 million increase, the 1 new Background spot in the 2nd year is worth only .2% ($600,000).

• In the last 28 years, BG has lost a total of 36 spots. 1 new spot isn’t enough.

• Scanning: No protection for background actors from the use of digital doubles. 

• Unequal nudity protections.

Foreign Travel

• Giving away First-Class Travel under 1,000 miles, especially in the Covid era, puts our members at risk. 

Grandfathering in SVOD

• New episodes of old shows are prevented from receiving newly increased negotiated residuals.

• The supposed elimination of “grandfathering” in this agreement is extremely vague. 

Stunts

• Money/Schedule Breaks ignored for features, robbing cumulative overtime. 

• No safety improvements. 

New Media under 20 minutes 

• New Media shows under 20 minutes will continue to be freely negotiated and will not have most of our standard protections.

• No minimums 

• No 12-hour turnaround

• Half-hour shows are typically 22 minutes. Cutting just 2 minutes will side-step the basic agreement.

Options & Exclusivity 

• The freedom of performers to pursue future work remains terribly restricting.

• Guest spots are unfairly limited.

• Actors are put on unreasonable holds.