Hollywood’s biggest union strikes deal with advertisers on new commercials contract

Hollywood’s biggest union, representing about 160,000 actors and other performers, has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with a group representing advertisers.

SAG-AFTRA, whose members include actors, dancers and broadcast journalists, said late Tuesday its national board would vote this weekend on a proposed television and audio commercials contract.

The union did not release details of the agreement negotiated with the Joint Policy Committee (JPC), which represents advertisers and advertising agencies in collective bargaining with unions.

The new contract is one of the biggest that the performers’ union has struck since a bargaining agreement with Hollywood studios in 2020.

The previous contract between SAG-AFTRA and the JPC expired on March 31. The two sides said last month they had agreed to extend the existing 2019 commercials contracts on a day-by-day basis until new terms were agreed. Representatives for the two groups started negotiations in February.

By the end of 2021 commercials production had returned to pre-pandemic era levels, FilmLA said earlier this year. The nonprofit organization, which handles film permits for Los Angeles County, reported that the total number of shoot days for commercials in 2021 reached 5,319, up less than 1% on 2019 levels.