SAG-AFTRA, AMPTP Strike Tentative TV Animation Deal

A new contract appears to be well on its way for animation voice actors represented by SAG-AFTRA after the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached tentative agreements on new contracts for tv and streaming animated series and films.

The union didn’t provide full details of the new contracts and will only do so after they have been reviewed by SAG-AFTRA leadership. However, the union described its new agreements as successors to the 2020 Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Television Animation Agreement and the 2020 Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Basic Cable Agreement for Animated Motion Pictures.

The 2020 contracts were hard earned, and negotiations nearly led to a strike. The union argued that performers on animated series weren’t getting a fair deal for shows produced for streaming platforms. Their main complaint was that streamers refused to offer appropriate wages and residuals to voice actors. In the end, the streamers acquiesced and scale wages and larger residuals were applied to streaming programs that met certain budgetary thresholds. Key terms of the 2020 agreement, which expired in June of last year, included:

• Wage increases of 2.5% in the first year, 3% in the second year, and 3% in the third year.
• A 26% improvement in residuals for high-budget animated programs made for subscription streaming services like Amazon Prime and Hulu.
• A further reduction of the budget threshold that triggers high-budget coverage for half-hour animated programs made for subscription streaming services from $550,000 to $500,000.
• Scale wages apply to non-high-budget subscription video-on-demand programs of 11 minutes and longer with a budget of at least $25,000 per minute.
• A 1% increase in the contribution rate to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and optional wage diversions in the second and third years that allow the union to shift 0.5% from the wage increase to the contribution rate for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan or the SAG-Producers Pension Plan/AFTRA Retirement Fund.