Sean Astin adopted within the footsteps of his mom Patty Duke on Friday as he was elected SAG-AFTRA president 37 years after she left the put up.
The Lord of the Rings actor will preside over the sprawling 160,000-member union alongside his operating mate Michelle Hurd, who was appointed secretary-treasurer. Astin received almost 80 % of the vote, whereas his opponent Chuck Slavin earned slightly greater than 20 %. Hurd racked up about 65 % of the vote, along with her opponent Peter Antico receiving greater than 35 % assist.
Voter turnout was low, with 17.34 % of ballots being returned within the nationwide election. Against this, 2023’s turnout was 22.84 % and 2021’s was 26.49 %.
“Now’s a time for optimism and creativity. I’m thrilled that the members have allowed me to steer our storied group out of this difficult second and right into a future outlined by confidence, progress and fierce advocacy,” Astin mentioned in an announcement. “I’m excited to get to work.”
In her personal assertion, Hurd promised to “guard and develop” the union’s sources. She added, “Our business is at a transitional second, and we face actual challenges, however I’m optimistic and able to combat.”
With incumbent president Fran Drescher deciding to not run for re-election, Astin and Hurd ran on a joint platform of bringing manufacturing again to the U.S., enhancing entry to well being and pension plans, prioritizing residuals in contract negotiations and preventing for improved AI protections.
They signify one thing of a continuation of Drescher’s management: Each Astin and Hurd served as members of the 2023 negotiating committee and on the nationwide board below The Nanny star. After Drescher introduced collectively two warring political factions inside the union for its 2023 election, amid the union’s movie and TV strike, Astin’s “Coalition 2025” slate did the identical. Astin, in spite of everything, was as soon as a member of the Membership First group, whereas Hurd was a member of their longtime rival, Unite for Power.
In the meantime, Astin and Hurd’s opponents promised a serious change in union politics. Slavin and Antico had been critics of COVID-19 vaccine mandates on union productions and Astin’s non-union work on The Lord of the Rings. Slavin additionally wished to overtake the union’s AI protections and develop members’ entry to the union well being plan.
In an announcement on Friday, Slavin thanked “everybody who supported our marketing campaign so far and believed in our imaginative and prescient for a stronger, extra accountable union.” He additionally claimed that he confronted challenges in the course of the election together with “going up towards the entrenched political machine that protects the established order” and “the highly effective Hollywood elite who wield affect to keep up their grip on energy.”
The union’s native elections additionally concluded on Friday. In Los Angeles, the union’s incumbent secretary-treasurer Joely Fisher was elected native president, whereas in New York Ezra Knight received the identical put up.
Astin and Hurd received’t have lengthy to settle into their new roles earlier than they’re thrust into preparation and planning for the union’s 2026 movie and tv contract negotiations. The primary return to the bargaining desk for the reason that actors’ 2023 strike will start a while subsequent yr forward of the present SAG-AFTRA deal’s June 30, 2026 expiration date.
The Alliance of Movement Image and Tv Producers, which bargains union contracts on behalf of studios and streamers, was very fast to ship an announcement on Friday concerning the election outcomes. “We look ahead to working with President Astin to handle the problems most necessary to SAG-AFTRA performers whereas selling stability and alternative throughout our business,” the group acknowledged.