SAG-AFTRA

We've all seen the headlines about A.I. and wondered what it all means for your career. There's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about what AI synthetics can actually accomplish. Writer-director and Emmy-winning creator Sergio Cilli, decided to find out by auditioning them. In his viral video series "Will AI Actors Replace Us?!," which has reached 45 million views, Sergio puts AI synthetics...

AI-generated content and deepfakes are rewriting the rules of creative ownership. So what are writers, artists, and performers doing about it? In this panel discussion from the AI House at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland joined multidisciplinary artist Emi Kusano and MIT Technology Review...

SAG-AFTRA's 2025 commercials contracts delivered groundbreaking A.I. provisions, but what do they actually mean for you? Tracy Hyman, Executive Director of Commercials Contracts, and actor and negotiating committee member Nicole Cyrille break down exactly how digital replicas and synthetic performances work, when you need to give consent, how you get paid and what guardrails are in place to...

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland sits down with journalist Matt Belloni from Puck at CES in Las Vegas for a no-holds-barred conversation about the future of A.I. and entertainment. Matt asks the tough questions: Why should A.I. companies care what unions think? How is artificial intelligence reshaping creative work? What happens if there's another strike? Duncan breaks down what SAG-AFTRA won in 2023,...

Diane Warren is one of the most successful and prolific songwriters in music history — and a proud SAG-AFTRA member. Her catalog includes many of the biggest pop songs of the past several decades. In this episode, she talks about the relentless drive behind her career, her new documentary and the early challenges that shaped her voice as a writer. Diane shares how she "casts" artists to bring her...

SAG-AFTRA's top three national officers — President Sean Astin, Executive Vice President Linda Powell and Secretary-Treasurer Michelle Hurd — sit down together with National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland during the 23rd International Federation of Actors (FIA) Congress in Birmingham, England last month. They discuss the power of global solidarity, the...

In the first part of our interview with legendary director James Cameron, he explained his actor-driven approach to performance capture and why human nuance is still at the core of great storytelling. In this second half, Cameron goes deeper into the promises and risks of A.I., where he believes the line sits between helpful innovation and harmful replacement. He talks about what Hollywood must...

James Cameron has spent four decades pushing filmmaking technology forward, but at the core of his work is something deeply human. In this video, the Oscar-winning director of Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and the Avatar films (Avatar: Fire and Ash opens December 19) talks about why performance capture is the "purest form of cinema acting," why he refuses to use generative A.I. for scripts and...

In the second half of our conversation, newly elected SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin opens up about lessons from the 2023 strike, the challenges of member communication and his goals for the next round of TV/Theatrical negotiations. Sean also reflects on what his most iconic roles — from Rudy to The Lord of the Rings — have taught him about leadership and fighting for what's right. *The views...

Sean Astin has spent most of his life in front of the camera starring in beloved films like The Goonies, Rudy, and The Lord of the Rings — and behind the scenes as a committed advocate for SAG-AFTRA and its members. Now he's leading our union as its newly elected president. In Part 1 of this 2-part conversation with SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan...