Actors’ Equity Association members ratified a new five-year contract with the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) in June. LORT is a national network of 72 nonprofit theaters. Equity cited major gains in the deal that includes retroactive salary increases (to February 13), improved pay for stage managers during tech week, and an increase in the number of Equity hires required per production. The new contract also has provisions for preventive physical therapy for choreography-heavy shows of more than eight weeks and the infusion of $1.7 million in employer contributions to Equity’s health fund.

Following a month of negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) studios, the union’s national board voted unanimously to send strike authorization ballots to its members. Unless a deal is reached by Friday, when the current contract expires, members will vote on strike authorization, which would require 75% approval to pass.

Eleven video game publishers, including major players—Activision, Electronic Arts, Take 2 Interactive, and WB Games—remain under pressure from the Screen Actors Guild for their treatment of voice actors. Because of the long delay between conception and launch, the makers are beginning to see the effects of the strike. The four main concerns are: throat damage (having to scream for hours can cause permanent and temporary damage); dangerous stunts (required for motion capture; there is currently no stunt coordinator); mystery roles (actors want transparency as to what characters they are playing and complain of surprise roles and those requiring suggestive and offensive language); and residuals (video game actors currently receive no royalties from the billions in dollars of revenue the games earn).