2000
- William Daniels continues as SAG president
- Shelby Scott continues as AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: March 12: 6th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 1999 Life Achievement Award presented to Sidney Poitier
- Strikes: May 1: SAG & AFTRA joint Commercials Strike begins, and will officially end October 30th. It is the Guild’s 8th strike and AFTRA’s 4th national strike.
- Diversity: May 24: SAG releases report "Still Missing: Latinos in and Out of Hollywood," with the cooperation of The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI), commissioned by the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Industry Advancement And Cooperative Fund (IACF), and followed by the "African-American Television Report" on June 7
- Diversity/Disabled/PWD: SAG Affirmative Action Department Performers with Disabilities Committee co-sponsors first Annual Disability Talent Showcase on October 15.
2001
- Melissa Gilbert, acting professionally since childhood and star of Little House on the Prairie from 1974-1983, elected SAG President, succeeding William Daniels.
- John P. Connolly, actor in film, TV, stage, elected AFTRA National President, succeeding Shelby Scott, the longest serving president in AFTRA’s history.
- SAG Awards: March 11: 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2000 Life Achievement Award presented to Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.
- June 25: John Cooke officially announced as the Guild’s new National Executive Director/CEO, but resigns July 5 before taking office
- September 10: A. Robert “Bob” Pisano hired as SAG National Executive Director/CEO
- Terrorist attacks: September 11: terrorists hijack four U.S. airplanes which crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC and a Pennsylvania field
- November 5: Screen Actors Guild Foundation launches “Conversations” series with first guest Camryn Manheim, in New York
2002
- Melissa Gilbert continues as SAG president
- John Connolly continues as AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: March 10: 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2001 Life Achievement Award presented to former Guild president Edward Asner
- SAG Election Rerun: January 7: November 2001 election to be partially rerun as a decision is handed down by SAG’s National Elections Committee on Challenges to the 2001 National Officer Election: “The election of the top three national officers is set aside and a rerun directed.”
- Elections: February 11: ballots mailed for first rerun election in SAG history
- Elections: March 9 results of the SAG election rerun are in, and the same three candidates win once more: President: Melissa Gilbert; Recording Secretary: Elliott Gould; Treasurer: Kent McCord
- Global Rule 1 (GR1), requiring SAG members “to ensure that a producer is a SAG signatory and to get a SAG contract wherever they work in order to get the protections of SAG’s agreements, even when working outside of the United States” becomes effective May 1.
- Organizing: Spanish-Language. AFTRA begins campaign to organize Spanish-language broadcasters in Chicago.
2003
- Melissa Gilbert re-elected SAG President
- John Connolly re-elected AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: March 9: 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2002 Life Achievement Award presented, in absentia, to Clint Eastwood.
- Merger: February 8: Consolidation Plan: at joint videoconference meeting, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) National Boards of Directors overwhelmingly approve a resolution to adopt a plan to consolidate the unions. Plan calls for the creation of umbrella union [“AIMA”] and three affiliates: Actors, Broadcasters and Recording Artists
- Organizing: Spanish-Language. AFTRA wins unionizing drive for Spanish-language broadcasters in Chicago.
- Global Rule One-First anniversary: by end of 2003 it has “…provided a boost to SAG Pension & Health contributions totaling over $4 million to date”
- Merger: July 1: Consolidation barely voted down by Screen Actors Guild membership as 42.22% of voting members opposed the consolidation while 57.78% supported it. Passage required a 60% “yes” vote by the membership of both the Guild and AFTRA
- Legislation/young performers: September 30 New York Governor George Pataki signs Child Performers Education and Trust Act of 2003, which will become effective March 28, 2004
2004
- Melissa Gilbert continues as SAG president
- John Connolly continues as AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: Feb 22: 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2003 Life Achievement Award presented to Karl Malden
- March 18: Guild and AFTRA members overwhelmingly ratify one-year extension of the current Television/Motion Picture and AFTRA Exhibit A agreements
- Diversity/disabled/PWD: April 28: SAG and CBS partner on the first Performers With Disabilities Showcase
- Global Rule One: By this second anniversary of SAG GR1, it has produced over $120 million in additional member earnings, plus $6 million more to the Guild's Pension and Health funds; over 200% increase in two years
- FCC: On June 24, SAG President Melissa Gilbert issues a statement after the United States Court of Appeals ruling to block the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plans to expand the number of radio and TV stations that one media company can own in one market: “This ruling is a victory not only for creative artists who are employed by media companies, but for the viewing public. This is a battle to protect the public airwaves, ensure a diversity of viewpoints in the media and defend workers' rights. Screen Actors Guild is proud to be a part of this critical fight and we commend the appeals court for today’s decision.”
- Residuals: July 13: Guild auctions rights to seven feature films to recover residual payments owed members, at its first-ever public foreclosure auction.
- Diversity/disabled/PWD: April 28 2004: first Casting Showcase for Performers with Disabilities.
- Diversity/Inclusion: September 22: SAG receives a diversity award in New York from the American Advertising Foundation for seeing more racial and ethnic inclusion in film and TV.
- Employment statistics: October 6: Guild releases statistics showing continuing drop in member employment due to proliferation of “reality” shows. Employment down 1.9% in 2003 over 2002.
2005
- Alan Rosenberg, co-star of CBS crime drama The Guardian from 2001-2004 elected SAG President
- John Connolly re-elected AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: Feb 5: 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2004 Life Achievement Award presented to James Garner
- January 1: SB 1687, the “California Advance Talent Service Act” anti-scam legislation, co-sponsored by the Guild, goes into effect today.
- Diversity/disabled/PWD: July 26: actor Robert David Hall announces results of first-of-its kind study: “The Employment of Performers with Disabilities in the Entertainment Industry” which reveals statistics including fact that 54 million Americans (20%) have mental a or physical disability, but less than 2% of TV show characters display a disability and only 0.5% have speaking roles.
2006
- Alan Rosenberg continues as SAG president
- John Connolly continues as AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: January 29: 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2005 Life Achievement Award presented to Shirley Temple Black
- Media landscape changing. April: TV on mobile phones: SAG signs its first “mobisode” agreement for popular TV series Lost.
2007
- Alan Rosenberg re-elected SAG President
- Three national presidents for AFTRA: John Connolly resigns in order to become national executive director of Actors’ Equity in March; award-winning radio host/ broadcast journalist Bob Edwards, AFTRA’s first VP, elevated to presidency to finish Connolly’s term: Edwards resigns presidency at end of April due to work commitments: Roberta Reardon, first VP and president of the New York Local since 2003, succeeds Edwards to finish the term and is elected AFTRA national president at the national convention in July. Reardon began her career in soap operas and her work included hundreds of radio and TV commercials, industrial film and narration and TV voiceover work.
- SAG Awards: January 28: 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2006 Life Achievement Award presented to Julie Andrews
- October 25: SAG receives an “Award of Excellence” star alongside Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame
- Strikes: November 5: Writers Guild of America, East and West, goes on strike.
2008 – Screen Actors Guild’s 75th anniversary year begins
- Alan Rosenberg continues as SAG president.
- Roberta Reardon continues as AFTRA national president.
- SAG Awards: January 27: 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2007 Life Achievement Award presented to Charles Durning
- February: AFTRA granted a direct charter from the American Federation of Labor
- Strikes: February 12: Writers Guild of America members vote to end the strike after 14 weeks
- March 4: SAG launches and hosts its first online casting service: iActor
- March 29: “Phase 1” joint bargaining of AFTRA and SAG is suspended by a vote of the AFTRA National Board at the SAG and AFTRA headquarters at 5757 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.
- Contract negotiations: April 15: SAG begins TV/Theatrical contract negotiations with AMPTP
- Contract negotiations: May 6th AMPTP suspends TV/Theatrical negotiations with the Guild
- May 7: AMPTP opens bargaining with AFTRA.
- May 27: AMPTP and AFTRA reach agreement on contract in wee hours of the morning. AMPTP resumes negotiations with SAG.
- “I AM PWD” campaign launched in October by Actors’ Equity, AFTRA and SAG to promote equal employment opportunities for performers with disabilities in entertainment and news media.
- Financial meltdown hits the U.S. in September launching the “Great Recession”
2009
- Ken Howard elected SAG president four days after winning an Emmy Award for his supporting role in HBO film film Grey Gardens, succeeding Alan Rosenberg.
- Roberta Reardon re-elected AFTRA national president
- SAG Awards: January 25: 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Center. 2008 Life Achievement presented to James Earl Jones. First award for Stunt Ensemble also presented.
- January 26: SAG national Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen succeeded by the Guild’s former chief counsel, David White, as Interim National Executive Director.
- April 17: AMPTP and SAG reach agreement on the Codified Basic Agreement/ TV/Theatrical contract, which had expired July 1, 2008.
- October 18: SAG Interim National Executive Director David White appointed National Executive Director