Agreement reached with the casting directors' union

After eight days of negotiations, casting directors based in New York and Los Angeles have reached a new tentative contract agreement with Hollywood studios and streamers, according to their union.

The tentative three-year agreement was announced Friday by Teamsters Local 399, which represents freelance casting professionals along with Teamsters Local 817. “As of this afternoon, Teamsters 399 and 817 have officially reached a tentative agreement for our casting Local 399 and 817 with the AMPTP,” the union said. “The member-led negotiating committee fought to the end for a provisional agreement which is unanimously recommended for ratification.” Details of the deal were not immediately available.

The Hollywood journalist has reached out to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for comment.

The agreement will soon be submitted for a ratification vote to the approximately 700 casting professionals represented by the two Teamsters Locals, including casting directors, associate casting directors and casting assistants. If the agreement is ratified, it will come into force.

Voting for ratification will begin on Monday, after an information meeting on the pact for union members.

In this round of bargaining, the union sought to significantly increase member wages by establishing a minimum wage for casting directors for the first time, increasing those rates for associate casting directors, and negotiating increases in annual compensation for casting assistants. (Casting assistants first joined the union in mid-August.) The union also supported minimum employment contract lengths for casting directors and negotiated health and pension benefits for casting assistants.

Negotiations began on August 26 and broke down after the first week, with the union saying that AMPTP needed more time “to respect and fairly compensate casting professionals in Los Angeles and New York.” . Bargaining resumed on Monday, with an additional date added on Friday after the two sides failed to reach an agreement by Tuesday.

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