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    RIP: The Traditional SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract

    By Frankfurt KurnitUpdated:No Comments5621 Views

    By Dorian Thomas

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    The end of an era has come. The “traditional” SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract will expire on December 31, 2022, and on January 1, 2023, the “new” SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract, with updated compensation and editing structures, will be the only game in town. Fortunately, SAG-AFTRA and The Joint Policy Committee have issued a set of FAQs regarding the transition from the “traditional” to the “new” SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract (the full set of FAQs may be found here).

    Here are a few useful takeaways from the FAQs to help navigate this transition:

    • Until December 31, 2022, performers should continue to be notified at the time of booking which contract they are being hired under and if a waiver is being used (such as the YouTube/Social Media waiver).
    • Beginning January 1, 2023, all commercials must be produced under the “new” contract payment structure; so, the only notification that would be required at booking would be whether you are producing under a waiver.
    • Once a performer is hired under a particular contract structure to perform in a particular commercial, that structure is followed through the commercial’s applicable Maximum Period of Use (MPU). Therefore, for an active commercial produced under the “traditional” contract, the terms, conditions, and use payments due under the “traditional” contract would continue to apply to that commercial – even after December 31st – through the commercial’s MPU.
    • Until December 31, 2022, a renewal upon expiration of the MPU can be negotiated with the performer under either the “traditional” contract or the “new” contract. Beginning January 1, 2023, all renewals must be negotiated under the “new” contract.
    • If you produce a commercial under the “traditional” contract prior to December 31, 2022, then all performers must be hired under that contract. There is one exception: if you produced a spot under the traditional contract before the end of the year, but record the voiceover after January 1, 2023, you would engage the voiceover performer under the “new” contract.
    • If you lift footage from a commercial produced under the “traditional contract” into a new commercial produced under the “new” contract, the principal performers whose performances are contained in the lifted footage would be paid for the new commercial according to the “new” contract compensation structure.

    Bottom line: although the days of producing new commercials under the “traditional” contract are coming to an end, the terms and conditions of the “traditional” contract will continue to apply to commercials produced under that contract before December 31, 2022. Thus, until all those “old” commercials expire, you shouldn’t throw away your copy of the “traditional” contract.

    Happy New Year!

    Dorian Slater Thomas practices in the firm’s Interactive Entertainment Group and Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Group, where he handles a wide range of transactional work for prominent agencies, brands, platforms, developers, publishers, and individual creative talent. Variety includes him as an “Up Next” honoree in their 2022 Legal Impact Report. The Legal 500 lists him as a “Rising Star” in advertising and marketing for 2021.

    This column presents a general discussion of legal issues, but is not legal advice and may not be applicable in all situations. Consult your attorney. To contact Dorian Slater Thomas click here.

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    Sir Anthony Hopkins on his debut album: “My first love is music”

    Wednesday, August 12, 2026

    It may be hard to believe, but even Sir Anthony Hopkins doubts himself sometimes.

    "There's a part of me which says, 'you didn't write that,'" he recalls of composing his debut album, "Life Is a Dream." "What's it called? Impostor syndrome."

    Thankfully, it did not stop him from finishing the collection of 12 compositions he crafted over six decades.

    Conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and recorded at London's Alexandra Palace in April, it will be released by Decca Records on Aug. 21.

    "My first love, or vocation really, is music," said the 88-year-old actor. "That sounds very official, but I was raised with a lot of music (of the) postwar years, and it influenced me. And I started playing the piano when I was quite young."

    He picked up the instrument at 4 and began composing years later, writing his first piece, a waltz, in 1960. He was 22 at the time.

    "I find more freedom with music," he says, compared to acting, which he labels "a discipline, you have to know your stuff. But music for me is a freewheeling kind of art form."

    And he's had his fair share of experience. Prior to the release of "Life Is a Dream," Hopkins had composed scores for a number of films.

    "The opening of 'Shadowlands' is my first adventure in composing music," he said, referring to the 1993 film he starred in as "The Chronicles of Narnia" author C.S. Lewis. Then he became the principal composer on a few other movies that he also starred in and directed, including 1996's "August" and 2007's "Slipstream." 2020's "Elyse."

    Hopkins' childhood informed "Life Is A Dream"
    "It's about my childhood," he says of the album, which shares its title with the Pedro Calderón de la Barca play.... Read More

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