Hollywood union reaches pay, AI-use deal with top studios

A union representing Hollywood film and television crew said on Tuesday it has reached a tentative three-year deal with major studios that includes agreed-on pay hikes and guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) members, which include lighting technicians and costume designers, are to ratify the deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Disney, Netflix and others.

The terms of the agreement include scale-rate increases of 7 per cent, 4 per cent, and 3.5 per cent over the three-year term, the union said.

On the AI front, the deal includes "language that ensures no employee is required to provide Al prompts in any manner that would result in the displacement of any covered employee."

In late 2023, the SAG-AFTRA actors union and the studios reached a labor agreement which ended a near six-month dispute that had halted film and TV production.

That contract also provided for pay raises and streaming bonuses that union leaders said amounted to more than $1 billion over three years, and also included protection around the use of AI in filmmaking.