Skip to content
What's After the Movie?

Jump to
What's After the Movie?
Industry Studios, festivals, awards, release strategies and box office vocabulary.

Screen Actors Guild: Meaning & Definition in Film

A labor union representing film and television actors in the United States, known for its annual awards.

  • 3 sections
  • 1 min read
  • Updated
On this page 3 sections

Formation and Mission

Established in 1933 during Hollywood’s tumultuous labor era, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) emerged to protect performers from exploitative contracts and unsafe working conditions. In 2012, it merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to form SAG-AFTRA, continuing advocacy for wages, benefits and intellectual property rights.

Screen Actors Guild: SAG Awards

First presented in 1995, the SAG Awards recognize ensemble performance alongside individual acting achievements in film and television. Unique among honors, these awards are voted on exclusively by peers—over 160,000 union members—making them a bellwether for the industry’s internal appraisal of craft.

Influence on Labor Relations

SAG-AFTRA negotiates collective bargaining agreements covering residuals, health plans and digital distribution royalties. Strikes in 1960, 1978, 1980 and most recently 2023 have reshaped contract standards, reflecting evolving media landscapes and the rise of streaming platforms.

See the vocabulary at work in real films

Look up any movie for its ratings, cast and crew, box office run and where to watch, or read the full plot with the ending explained.

Browse movies
Industry

More Film Industry & Awards Terms

Entries filed on the same shelf as Screen Actors Guild, each with the one-line answer first. They are the words that usually come up in the same conversation.

All 835 terms

  • Inclusion Rider

    An inclusion rider is a contractual clause that an actor or filmmaker can require in their contract to ensure a certain level of diversity in casting and production hiring.

  • MPSE

    The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) is an honorary society dedicated to advancing the craft of sound editing and recognizing artistic excellence in the field.

  • BO Bomb

    A BO bomb refers to a film that performs significantly below box office expectations.

  • Hashgraph

    Alternative distributed ledger using gossip-about-gossip and virtual voting for fast, final consensus.

  • LTO

    Linear Tape-Open or LTO is a high-capacity magnetic tape data storage technology predominantly used for long-term archival and backup of digital assets in filmmaking.

  • Green Memo

    A green memo is an informational document distributed to a film's cast and crew that outlines the specific sustainability policies and environmental goals for the production.