Hollywood Unions Pencil in Bargaining Dates as AI and Health Funding Issues Loom

The Hollywood unions are penciling in bargaining dates for the coming months, as they prepare to negotiate with the studios about thorny issues like artificial intelligence and health coverage.

SAG-AFTRA told members last month that its negotiators will sit down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Feb. 9. Those talks are due to run through March 6.

The Writers Guild of America is expected to begin talks 10 days later, on March 16. The WGA contract expires on May 1, and those negotiations typically go down to the wire.

The Directors Guild of America is expected to begin its talks 10 days after that, on May 11. The DGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts each expire on June 30. If the SAG-AFTRA talks do not result in a deal before the WGA talks start, there will still be an opportunity to resume negotiations in June before the expiration.

The negotiations will be the first since the writers and actors strikes of 2023, and will likely revisit the concerns that animated those stoppages, such as AI and residuals on streaming platforms. Traditionally, the first of the three unionn to negotiate — often, the DGA — has set a pattern for the other two. But that dynamic broke down to a large extent in the last cycle and may or may not return.

The industry has struggled over the last three years, particularly in Los Angeles. Negotiators are expected to focus on items that could boost jobs for members while being wary of jeopardizing a recovery.

In their message to members last month, SAG-AFTRA leaders said they had asked for an early negotiating window in order to give plenty of time to talk, and to avoid threatening “the nascent but much-needed resurgence in domestic production activity.”

The slowdown in production has also put a strain on industry health plans, which could force negotiators to look into adjusting benefit structures. The AMPTP has begun laying the groundwork on that issue, putting out a five-page report last month showing that guild members get relatively generous health coverage.

The report showed that compared to other large employer-based plans, DGA, WGA and SAG-AFTRA members pay lower premiums, have lower deductibles, and have lower out-of-pocket maximums.

The AMPTP has also floated the idea of a five-year contract — instead of the typical three-year deal — indicating that studios would be willing to pay a premium to buy an extended period of labor peace.

The unions are also expected to renew their push to protect members from the threat of AI. The writers and actors sought in 2023 to protect members’ work from being used to train AI systems. While they won a range of other AI guardrails, they were not able to secure anything on training. Disney’s recent deal with OpenAI — which allows Disney characters on Sora 2 — has heightened concerns around that issue.

The unions and the AMPTP declined to comment on the bargaining dates.