Your favorite TV actors may start appearing more often, because their union approved a deal Saturday that allowed them to appear on multiple shows simultaneously.
SAG-AFTRA has been lobbying over a decade for so-called “exclusivity”These agreements prevent TV series regulars who are currently on hiatus from accepting other jobs.
In the agreement approved by the union’s national board on Saturday, producers will be required to give TV actors a three-month window after each season in which they can take any job they want. That means that stars of shows may start appearing more often as guest stars — or even as regulars — on shows on other platforms and networks. The new agreement applies to contracts signed after January 1.
The agreement also contains a restriction on reasons that a producer can stop a series regular accepting an appearance on another show.
SAG-AFTRA described the financial component as follows: “An increase in the exclusivity money breaks from $15,000 per week or per episode for half-hour programs and $20,000 per week or per episode for one hour or longer programs to $65,000 per week or per episode for half-hour programs and $70,000 per week or per hour for one hour or longer programs.”
After the union demanded the matter, a Sacramento bill that would have effectively eliminated all exclusivity provisions was passed. The deal was reached after the union forced it. That bill, AB 437, appeared on its way to passage in the Legislature, prompting the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — which bargains on behalf of the studios — to seek a negotiated solution.
The bill will be withdrawn.
Motion Picture Association opposed the legislation because it claimed it would make scheduling more difficult and could result in fewer shows being renewed for multiple seasons.
The union has argued that in the current TV environment — with a profusion of shows and platforms — exclusivity is far less important than it was in the days of three broadcast networks.
SAG-AFTRA reached a similar agreement with Netflix earlier this month. The agreement includes a three-month mandatory conflict-free window as well as limits on option periods. The actors’ union has also complained that actors can be left in limbo for months or years while a networks decides whether or not to renew a show. The Netflix deal restricts those option periods to 18 month after the start of principal photography for a season. It also stipulates that the shooting must start within two months following exercise of the option.
The agreement with the AMPTP doesn’t address option periods. However, that could be addressed next year when the contract goes up for bargaining.