While we're all still celebrating the fantastic news that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, there are still a lot of issues to iron out. In particular, the issue of what exactly the new contract has on offer for SAG-AFTRA members. Instead of the fought-for residual system for streaming content, we're left with the rather nebulous ‘streaming participation bonus' system. What is it, and what does it mean for the average SAG-AFTRA member? Our industry expert entertainment lawyer Los Angeles, Brandon Blake, of Blake & Wang P.A., takes a closer look.





Brandon Blake

Getting As Many Paid As Possible

It's a term we heard over and over again in strike rhetoric- let's get as many people paid as possible. Yet the streaming bonus as currently presented splits the money between the performers for the best-performing streaming shows, and a general fund divided between everyone else working in the streaming industry.

The $120M fund, split evenly over three years, works out at $40M a year.  A large sum in theory, but when compared with some top Hollywood earnings, it is not all that much. Let's not forget that SAG-AFTRA officially has 160,000 members, although not all qualify for the bonus to start with.

If a qualifying show reaches more than 20% of the streamer's domestic subscriber base in 90 days, it gets a 100% bonus of the existing residual. 75% is earmarked for the principal performers, who already qualify for a fixed residual. The remaining 25% is allocated to the fund for all working on streaming, and an undisclosed amount of that will be paid as contributions to benefit plans. The exact breakdown is to be decided among the guild.

Who Qualifies?

The fund is specific to made-for-streaming content, with theatrical films and broadcast productions discounted, even if they later move to streaming. The guild has not been forthcoming on the exact numbers that it covers. And that matters. A lot.

Hitting the bonus threshold may be tough. For those who don't, they will effectively be looking at a share in a $10M pot, minus the benefit deduction. If only a few hundred qualify, that could still be a decent share. If we move into the thousands, we're looking at substantially less.

The guild is keen to sell it as a way to qualify for the guild's health plan. Which, admittedly, it could. But only, again, if the overall number of qualifying actors is low enough to make their fund portion in the thousand dollar per annum range. A few hundred, probably not so much.

As it stands, it's clear that this was one of the greatest sticking points for the strike negotiation. It is rumored to be the last detail agreed upon for the new contracts, and then still reluctantly on the AMPTP side. So we've seen a change in rhetoric for the guild, positioning the deal as a start and a way to acclimate the AMPTP to the idea, with more to build on in the future. However, for now, the impact on the average SAG-AFTRA member is still slated to be pretty minimal, with its primary benefit possibly being an upgrade into the guild's medical plan for those who don't otherwise qualify. Only time will tell if it can truly be developed into a truly meaningful system from there.