Imran Khan,<\/p>\n
Contributing Editor,GameDeveloper.com<\/p>\n
November 6, 2026<\/p>\n
schedule2 Min Read<\/p>\n
SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is the foremost American labor SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has released today a new framework for using union actors in pitches and other pre-release content titled the Pre-Funding Pitch Interactive Media Agreement, specifically designed for developers creating full-featured gaming pitches. This new framework provides an opportunity for developers to use SAG-AFTRA actors in pre-production work. Previously, there were no specific union guidelines for using union actors in a pitch expected to be used to try and get a project greenlit by a publisher.<\/p>\n
“The Pre-Funding Pitch Interactive Media Agreement streamlines the hiring of professional union talent, and that can help give devs that extra edge to get the backing they need in an extremely competitive industry,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.<\/p>\n
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Crabtree-Ireland’s comments hit on the head of how increasingly difficult it is to bring an in-development pitch to publishers and the agreement itself hits on how hiring union talent for a pitch or vertical slice is becoming more necessary.<\/p>\n