SAG-AFTRA’s new influencer committee aims to strengthen support for digital creators

SAG-AFTRA is expanding its reach into the influencer economy.

In late April, the union’s board unanimously voted to establish a new influencer committee, appointing New York-based lifestyle influencer Patrick Janelle as chair.

SAG-AFTRA’s involvement with influencers isn’t new. In 2021, the union introduced an influencer agreement and waiver to cover branded content work—an initiative that thousands of members have used. While that agreement marked a major step forward, it notably excluded original creative content, which remains the core of many creators’ livelihoods.

“It really became clear that if we’re going to continue to expand, and especially outside of the branded content space, we needed to have a formal structure in the union so that members who do this work could come together and give us guidance and leadership,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told The Hollywood Reporter.

Online content creation is a fast-growing but still loosely regulated industry. Since 2020, the number of full-time content creators in the U.S. has surged from 200,000 to 1.5 million in 2024, according to Axios. Despite this growth, pay structures and content guidelines vary significantly across platforms—from Instagram Reels to long-form YouTube podcasts. To successfully advocate for creators across the board, the new committee plans to engage voices from all major platforms.

“The goal of this committee is to provide the union with necessary guidance and feedback from the creator’s perspective as SAG-AFTRA continues its efforts to assist creators in their pursuit of stable, safe, sustainable careers,” Janelle posted to LinkedIn. “As a SAG-AFTRA member, I’m honored and excited to be stepping up and representing my fellow creators and the industry at large.”

SAG-AFTRA doesn’t have a clear count of how many of its 160,000 members are influencers, but Crabtree-Ireland points to the 2023 actors strike as a moment of convergence. Influencers found themselves in a gray area, as the union warned that any nonmember who took work with struck companies during the strike would be barred from future membership. Many chose solidarity over a paycheck, something the union now wants to show in return.

“During the theatrical strike, creators of influencers stepped up in big ways to stand by our members on strike,” Crabtree-Ireland told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think that just really cemented for us the obvious connection and nexus there.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/91327213/sag-aftras-new-influencer-committee-aims-to-strengthen-support-for-digital-creators?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Vytvořeno 3mo | 2. 5. 2025 14:30:04


Chcete-li přidat komentář, přihlaste se

Ostatní příspěvky v této skupině

This free email scam detector gives you the protection Gmail and Outlook don’t

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but email scams are getting surprisingly sophisticated.

We’ve had a handful of instances here at The Intelligence International Headquarters where we’ve h

9. 8. 2025 12:20:05 | Fast company - tech
You might want a VPN on your phone. Here’s how to get started

Interest in virtual private networks (VPNs) has surged in America and Europe this year. Countries on both sides of the Atlantic have recently enacted new age-verification laws designed to prevent

9. 8. 2025 9:50:05 | Fast company - tech
Instagram’s new location sharing map: how it works and how to turn it off

Instagram’s new location-sharing Map feature is raising privacy concerns among some users, who worry their whereab

8. 8. 2025 17:40:06 | Fast company - tech
The one part of crypto that’s still in crypto winter

Crypto is booming again. Bitcoin is near record highs, Walmart and Amazon are report

8. 8. 2025 13:10:06 | Fast company - tech
Podcasting is bigger than ever—but not without its growing pains

Greetings, salutations, and thanks for reading Fast Company’s Plugged In.

On August 4, Amazon announced that it was restructuring its Wondery podcast studio. The compan

8. 8. 2025 13:10:04 | Fast company - tech
‘Clanker’ is the internet’s favorite slur—and it’s aimed at AI

AI skeptics have found a new way to express their disdain for the creeping presence of

8. 8. 2025 10:50:02 | Fast company - tech
TikTok is losing it over real-life octopus cities

Remember when the internet cried actual tears for an anglerfish earli

7. 8. 2025 23:20:03 | Fast company - tech