WEST HOLLYWOOD—Hollywood’s unions, director guilds, and studios reached an agreement on Monday, September 21 about safety measures to let everyone return to work.
Hollywood top agencies including The Directors Guild of America (DGA), The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Teamsters, the Basic Crafts, and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) came to an agreement about issues related to COVID-19 filming protocols. The agreement involves over 350,000 members.
The agreement includes safety training requirements, paid sick leave of 10 days, and a testing regime to keep staff members’ safety. Some detailed instructions are also stated; meals and snacks should be offered in individually wrapped portions.
In response to the new agreement, SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said that SAG-AFTRA and other entertainment unions are strongly willing to restart their production, but safety has to be the highest priority. She supports the agreement as “sensible, science-based protocols.”
The Hollywood’s major studios and production guilds had been struggling to agree on the safety protocols under the COVID-19 pandemic since June. The aspects they particularly needed to discuss included the frequency and type of virus for testing, crew size, the number of workday limitations and paid sick day off, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Steve Dayan, Secretary-Treasurer at Teamsters Local 399 commented that the collaboration with the studios was not easy, but there was “a mutual respect” to each other among the unions, guilds, and studios, and now the collaboration is going well.
