The New SAG-AFTRA Rates Are Final. Here's the Budget Breakdown.

Back in May, when the tentative deal landed, I said I'd come back with the real numbers once they were public. They're public. On June 4, SAG-AFTRA members ratified the 2026 TV/Theatrical Contracts by a vote of 91.42% to 8.58%, on a 19.25% return. Variety and Deadline both covered the vote, and the union has published the full summary of the agreement. The union values the package at over $700 million in improvements.

The new contract takes effect July 1, 2026 and runs through June 30, 2030. That is less than three weeks away. If you have a bid open for anything shooting after July 1, the numbers in it are about to be wrong. Here is what actually changes, when, and by how much.

One scoping note before the numbers: this is the TV/Theatrical agreement. It covers features, scripted television, and streaming. The SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract is a separate document on its own cycle, so your commercial session fees are not touched by this deal.

The Headline: 3% a Year, Compounding, Four Years Running

Minimums increase 3% on July 1, 2026, then 3% again on July 1 of 2027, 2028, and 2029. The increases compound, so by the final year of the contract scale is up roughly 12.55% over today.

In practice, against the current rate card (valid through June 30):

• Day performer scale goes from $1,246 to approximately $1,283 on July 1, and lands around $1,402 by July 2029.
• Weekly performer scale goes from $4,326 to approximately $4,456 on July 1, reaching roughly $4,869 by July 2029.
• Exact figures land when SAG-AFTRA publishes the official 2026 rate sheet. The union rounds, so expect a few dollars of drift from straight multiplication.

Three percent a year is the same pattern the WGA took this cycle, and it is at the modest end of what was rumored. The money in this deal is less in the scale bump and more in everything around it: fringes, money breaks, and residuals.

Fringes: The Quiet 1% That Hits Every Line

The health plan contribution rate increases by 1 percentage point. Because of how the effective-date language works (the first Sunday that is 90 days after ratification notice), this lands in early September 2026, not July 1. So a job shooting in July pays new scale with old fringe; a job shooting in October pays new scale with new fringe. If your budget template carries a single P&H percentage, it needs two versions this fall.

The bigger structural story is the pension merger. The SAG-Producers Pension Plan and the AFTRA Retirement Fund are finally merging, with a target date of January 1, 2028. At merger, the contribution rate to the combined plan increases another 1%, and the maximum monthly pension benefit rises 12.5%. For budgeting purposes: plan on fringe percentages stepping up again in early 2028.

One break for half-hour producers: Sideletter K, the discounted benefit contribution rate for pilots and the first two seasons of new one-hour series, now extends to half-hour series effective July 1, 2026. The discounted rate is 15.5% for projects whose photography commenced before July 1, 2026 and 16.5% after.

The Effective-Date Calendar

Not everything switches on July 1. The dates that matter for a budget:

• July 1, 2026: minimums +3%. Overtime money break for three-day performers rises from $3,150 to $3,800, and for weekly performers from $4,400 to $5,200. Fittings money break for day performers rises from $1,500 to $1,700.
• Early September 2026: health contribution +1%. Also from September 1, the Modified Deal Performer and Modified Guest Performer production period is capped at 180 calendar days regardless of episodes guaranteed.
• January 1, 2027: the new recurring performer rule. For new seasons commencing photography on or after this date, a performer hired by the week for at least 60% of a season's episodes earns 120% of scale for the episodes beyond 60% (130% of the day rate for major role performers).
• July 1, 2027: minimums +3% again. Series-regular money breaks jump: free bargaining thresholds go from $65,000 to $70,000 per episode for half-hours and $70,000 to $75,000 for one-hours, exclusivity money breaks move from 2x to 4x weekly scale, and the span money break rises from $25,000 to $35,000 per episode. The streaming Success Bonus payable to the distribution fund increases from 25% to 35%. Consent becomes required to use a digital replica to dub a performance into another language.
• January 1, 2028: target date for the pension merger and the associated +1% contribution.
• July 1, 2028: minimums +3%. Per diem rises from $75 to $80 per day. Paid parental leave funding begins: producers contribute 0.25% of all gross compensation to a new fund, with benefits available no sooner than July 2029.
• July 1, 2029: the final +3%.

Money Breaks: The Overtime Exposure You're Not Pricing

This is the change most likely to surprise people who only read the 3% headline. A money break is the salary threshold below which a performer is owed overtime. When the break moves up, performers earning between the old and new thresholds become overtime-eligible.

The weekly overtime break jumps from $4,400 to $5,200 on July 1, an 18% move, and then to $5,750 in 2028. The three-day break jumps from $3,150 to $3,800, a 21% move. If you regularly book performers in the $4,500 to $5,200 weekly range on long shoot days, those deals now accrue overtime that they did not last month. The wardrobe and makeup test money break also rises from $1,200 to $1,500, and the major role one-day exception now pays day player scale plus 10%.

What It Means by Job Type

• Features. Cleanest case: +3% on principal scale July 1, new fringe rate from September, and watch the overtime bands above. Theatrical schedule breaks rise in July 2027.
• Scripted half-hour. The most movement of any format. New half-hour MDP and MGP forms of engagement arrive (minimum guarantees of $19,846 and $12,889 per episode respectively, subject to the general increase), Sideletter K's reduced fringe now applies to new half-hour series, and the recurring performer premium starts with 2027 seasons.
• Branded content and new media. Minor-employment provisions now extend to programs outside the high-budget tiers, and high-budget AVOD programs get aligned to the 2023 terms. If you produce under the new media sideletters, the structural changes are modest this cycle.
• Commercials. Not this contract. Your session fees, holding fees, and use cycles are governed by the separate Commercials Contract.

Residuals: Tighten the Contingency

In May I suggested carrying a 10 to 15 percent contingency on streaming residual lines until terms were public. The terms are public, so you can sharpen that. Performer residuals for theatrical and TV titles moving over to subscription streaming increase by an average of 5%, with the residual share of the 3.6% gross-receipts pool rising to over 88%. High-budget SVOD compensation ceilings rise 2.5% in 2027 and again in 2029. The Success Bonus change (25% to 35% of applicable residuals and contributions, from July 2027) only bites on titles that hit the viewership metric, but for a streamer the size of Netflix that is a real tail liability on a hit.

Practical guidance: for 2026 to 2027 deliverables with streaming distribution, build residual lines at the new formula plus about 5% contingency rather than the blanket 10 to 15 we were carrying in May.

The AI Terms Are Now Contract, Not Headline

The pieces that matter operationally for producers:

• No-scan replicas are covered. A digital replica built from the production's own photography, without a scan session, is still an employment-based digital replica with all consent and payment obligations attached.
• Independently created replicas have a floor. Using a performer's pre-existing replica now pays at least day performer scale, plus residuals where the equivalent natural performance would earn them.
• Synthetic performers face a real standard. Producers commit that a fully synthetic, AI-generated performer can only take a human role where it brings “significant additional value” beyond what a human or a digital replica could deliver, with notice, bargaining, and arbitration behind it.
• Foreign-language dubbing via replica requires consent for pictures starting photography on or after July 1, 2027.
• Biometric data is fenced off. Fingerprints, palmprints, and iris scans cannot be used for any purpose unrelated to the picture.
• AI training licenses trigger notice. A producer licensing covered performances to a third party for training a public, commercial generative AI system must notify the union and, on request, discuss the license.

If you paused AI-related performer paperwork in May on our earlier advice, this is the framework to re-paper against. Route scan consents, replica use grants, and any synthetic-performer plans through legal with the new language in hand.

Background, Dancers, and the Small Lines That Add Up

• Schedule X-I swimmers and skaters jump from $518 to $580, on top of the general increase.
• The television background coverage cap rises from 25 to 26 on July 1, 2026 (27 in 2029), so one more background position per episode is at union rates.
• New and increased adjustments: $21.50 for body makeup and for corsets, $35 for extensive hair and makeup, $27 when a stand-in also performs background duty.
• Meal penalties get a new fifth-and-subsequent tier: $75 per half hour for principals, $15 for background.
• Dancer hazard pay rises from $100 to $110 per day ($135 single-day minimum), and choreographers are covered under the agreement for the first time, with negotiable rates plus pension and health contributions.

Bottom Line

The 3% headline understates the real cost movement. Between the fringe step-ups, the overtime money breaks, the recurring performer premium, and the residual changes, a typical scripted budget moves more like 4 to 6 percent year over year through this contract, with the exact number depending on how much of your cast sits near the money breaks. The trade for that money is four years of certainty, through mid-2030, which is worth a lot if you are modeling a slate or a multi-year brand commitment for a client like Coca Cola or Samsung.

The official rate sheets should follow from the union shortly. When they post, the figures above get replaced by exact numbers, and we'll update our union scale data the same day.

Sources

• SAG-AFTRA: Summary of 2026 TV/Theatrical Tentative Agreement (May 11, 2026)
• SAG-AFTRA: Members Approve 2026 TV/Theatrical Contracts Tentative Agreement
• Variety: SAG-AFTRA Members Ratify Contract With AI Terms and Pension Merger
• Deadline: SAG-AFTRA Members Approve AMPTP Deal