Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)

Overview

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is the trade association representing major US film and television studios and production companies in collective bargaining negotiations with entertainment industry unions. Founded in 1982, the AMPTP is the management counterpart to the DGA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and other guilds -- it sits across the bargaining table from these unions and negotiates the agreements that govern wages, working conditions, residuals, and creative rights for workers across the American entertainment industry.

AMPTP membership includes the major Hollywood studios -- Warner Bros., Universal, Disney, Paramount, Sony, and Netflix among others -- as well as major independent production companies and television producers. Together, these companies represent the majority of film and television production activity in the United States. When a major guild contract is up for renewal, it is the AMPTP that negotiates the new agreement on behalf of management, and AMPTP-negotiated deals set the terms that govern the entire unionized entertainment industry.

Role in Industry Labor Relations

The AMPTP's core function is collective bargaining. Every three years (approximately), the major union contracts expire and new negotiations begin. The AMPTP negotiates as a unified management entity, presenting a coordinated position to each union rather than having individual studios negotiate separately. This coordination gives management significant bargaining leverage -- if studios negotiated individually, unions could play them against each other, but a unified management position forces unions to deal with a single counterpart.

The history of AMPTP negotiations includes some of the most significant labor disputes in entertainment history. The 1988 WGA strike lasted 22 weeks. The 2007-2008 WGA strike lasted 100 days and caused an estimated $2.1 billion in economic damage to the Southern California economy. The 2023 dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes -- where both unions were on strike simultaneously for the first time since 1960 -- lasted 148 and 118 days respectively and resulted in agreements that addressed streaming residuals, artificial intelligence use, and minimum staffing requirements.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For independent producers signing union agreements, it is important to understand that AMPTP agreements are the floor for major studio productions -- they do not automatically apply to independent productions. Independent producers sign their own agreements with each guild at applicable budget-tier rates. Understanding the difference between signing an AMPTP-covered agreement (which applies to studio-level productions) versus an independent low-budget agreement (which applies to qualifying independent films) is essential for producers navigating their union compliance obligations.

For anyone seeking to understand why union contract terms are what they are -- why residual rates for streaming differ from those for broadcast television, why turnaround periods are specified at the lengths they are, why credit arbitration works the way it does -- the history of AMPTP negotiations with the major guilds provides the institutional context that explains these provisions.

See Also

For the unions that negotiate with the AMPTP, see Directors Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, Writers Guild of America, West, and IATSE in this directory.