Equity and Pact Start Negotiations for New UK Artist Agreements

UK actors’ union Equity has started formal negotiations with producer trade body Pact to update their collective agreements for film and TV productions. With a membership of over 40,000 performers and stage managers, Equity is one of the largest unions representing supporting artists. These negotiations will therefore have a direct impact on the rights of supporting artists working on UK productions.

Equity’s demands

Following consultation with its members, Equity has submitted five clear demands to Pact.

Pay

Equity is calling for a substantial increase in basic pay for artists.

Secondary payments

Equity is also calling for a reform of royalty and residual payments to ensure that artists receive a fair share in today’s evolving media landscape.

This was a hot topic in last year’s negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which saw US actors strike for 118 days from July 14 to November 9, 2023.

Essentially, Equity wants to revamp the UK residuals model to better reflect modern viewing habits in the age of the streaming platform. It believes that artist residual payments should be based on how long a production is hosted on a particular platform, rather than viewing numbers.

AI

Equity has been vocal about the need for AI protections for artists, particularly with respect to areas such as synthesisation (ie, where an actor’s face is cloned and used in other shows). This includes publishing an AI toolkit, including a template AI contract, which aims to help artists protect their rights in this space.

While there are obvious benefits of digital replication in production (such as quick, cost-effective retakes or manipulating an artist’s image so they appear to be speaking another language), the rise of AI has led to global discussions about production’s right to use an artist’s image “in perpetuity,” essentially putting them out of work.

With these negotiations, Equity is seeking to regulate the use of generative AI in production and introduce clear protections for its members, including supporting artists.

Casting

Equity is calling for its self-tape guidelines to be codified to establish fairer methods of casting. This is similar to the demands of SAG-AFTRA in the US, which sought better regulation over the time, effort and money productions were requiring artists to invest in creating self-recorded audition tapes.

Fair contracts

Equity wants to tackle the misuse of special stipulations which it believes are being used to undermine the collective agreements and fostering poorer working conditions for artists. According to Equity, US streamers and studios often offer a higher rate in return for carve-outs concerning things like availability, holiday pay and sick pay.

Equity also wants to ensure that contracts have suitable hair and makeup provisions for members of all ethnicities and cultures. This demand stems from the recent Time’s Up UK campaign which seeks to have hair and makeup equality for Black talent enshrined in film and TV contracts.

Open dialogue is positive

Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming has reportedly said that relations between the union and Pact are solid, and that initial chatter around potential strike action has dimmed. Equity and Pact will meet fortnightly with the aim of having a deal signed off by the end of September.

Equity and Pact’s willingness to engage in open dialogue on these topics is positive news for the industry. This openness will not only empower artists but also educate the broader industry about the challenges they face when working on UK film and TV productions.

In addition, ensuring that artists continue to receive fair compensation and favourable working conditions will help to attract a more diverse workforce, greater job satisfaction and, ultimately, higher quality content.