THR Photo Illustration/Mario Tama/Getty Images What a difference three years makes. While 2023 marked the spiciest year in recent memory for Hollywood labor, with two major unions going on strike for more than 100 days each, 2026 was perhaps the sleepiest.
On Tuesday evening, to little fanfare and with scant public sniping, the Directors Guild of America became the last union to seal a deal in 2026 with Hollywood studios and streamers. While the pact (whose details have yet to be released) is still tentative and could theoretically be rejected by its national board or members in a ratification vote, no one expects them to.
To be sure, the DGA isn’t exactly known for its fiery nature (it’s got more of an eldest-child-who-considers-themselves-the-most-responsible-in-the-family vibe), but unions that have an aggressive side also opted for a low-key negotiation in 2026. The SAG-AFTRA negotiations: Pretty uneventful, despite the fireworks that some expected from its generative AI discussions. The WGA talks: Very chill for a union whose 2007-08 strike saw members form the words “WGA” with their bodies for news helicopters on Pico Boulevard, and that’s just one of many examples of the organization’s colorful advocacy over the years. (Ironically, the most intense labor fight this year was not between the WGA and the studios but between the WGA and its own unionized workers.)
And the year was relatively peaceful even though all the unions agreed to unusually long deal terms of four years rather than the typical three. Lengthier deals were a key issue for the studios and streamers, which bargain under the auspices of the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and wanted some labor stability at least until 2030. And unions were willing to agree to that in order to extract extra-generous benefits for their members.
So far, those members haven’t rebelled against that strategy: More than 90 percent of participating members approved the WGA contract, while more than 91 percent greenlit SAG-AFTRA’s.
But what made this year just so mellow? The top factor, perhaps, was the ongoing fallout from Hollywood’s contraction. It’s no small thing that, since 2022, studios have tightened their belts and downsized their slates, reducing the job opportunities available for average industry workers. Corporate consolidation that resulted in significant layoffs, like the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media in 2025, hasn’t helped matters.
An Otis College of Art and Design report in 2025 found that, between 2022 and 2025, entertainment jobs in L.A. fell by 25 percent. The Wall Street Journal reported that employment in the business has dropped 30 percent since late 2022. In a precarious industry environment, unionized entertainment workers were in no position to risk another strike.
What’s more, two of the three unions that went to the bargaining table in 2026 needed vital funding for their health plan. As work slowed down over the past few years, and healthcare inflation took its toll, the WGA health plan cumulatively lost $122 million in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years. Meanwhile, the DGA’s lost $43 million during that time, according to tax filings. A union can only get so aggressive when it’s holding its hands out, asking for a major investment in critical benefits plans relied upon by many. And with their easygoing approach this year, the WGA, at least, received a $321 million infusion into its health plan.
And then there were the personalities at play. The AMPTP had a new leader at the table in the form of president Greg Hessinger. The dealmaker, who took over in 2025 from previous longtime labor head Carol Lombardini, brought experience on both side on the negotiations table, having formerly served as a national executive director of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) before the two merged in 2012.
Union negotiators say they saw a difference. Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a negotiating committee member in 2023 who co-chaired the committee in 2026, told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that “the big difference in 2026 is that they [the AMPTP] came ready to talk about really what we needed and what they needed.” SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin said Hessinger “helped reset the relationship between our organizations.”
On the labor side, too, fresh leaders took the reins. In 2025 former vice president Michele Mulroney became president of the WGA West and Tom Fontana was elected president of the WGA East, succeeding strike-time leaders Meredith Stiehm and Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. Blockbuster helmer Christopher Nolan took over for veteran TV director Lesli Linka Glatter as president of the DGA. Astin was elected president of SAG-AFTRA in the fall of 2025, after former leader Fran Drescher, who consistently made headlines during the 2023 strike, decided not to run again.
From an early stage, Astin struck a diplomatic tone about negotiations. He said in a joint statement with the union’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland ahead of talks that bargaining contracts is “a regular and orderly way for unions and companies to address our working relationships.” Astin and Crabtree-Ireland added, “It doesn’t have to be a dramatic process.”
This year it wasn’t, but now that everyone’s demonstrated they can play nice at a difficult time for the business, don’t count on cordiality being the new normal. 2026 was a very particular moment in entertainment and the WGA’s Mulroney, at least, has said she wants to go back to a three-year deal in the future. The moment one side feels the need to shake things up to benefit their side of the table, expect them to do so. Entertainment workers know how to put on a show.
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