Bringing New Opportunities to Creatives: The SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement

One of SAG-AFTRA’s major accomplishments since the beginning of 2021 has been the creation of the SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement, which covers content created by macro- and micro-influencers, or individuals who work directly with brands who create, perform in, produce and distribute content through their own social media channels. 

To provide more information about the Influencer Agreement, the SAG-AFTRA President’s Task Force on Education, Outreach & Engagement hosted The Influencer Agreement: Everything You Need to Know on March 30. The session was emceed by SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President and National Innovation & New Technology Committee Chair Rebecca Damon.

The session began with a presentation held by SAG-AFTRA Associate Commercials & Influencer Strategist Shaine Griffin, who discussed how the agreement was developed and some of its many notable features. Griffin also explained the ways the agreement creates new work opportunities for traditional performers and social content creators alike. 

“Over the past several years, we've seen more and more of our traditional SAG-AFTRA members start to work in the influencer space and, at the same time, we started seeing more and more native digital talent becoming SAG-AFTRA members,” said Griffin. “In some cases, our own SAG-AFTRA members were losing out on some work opportunities, and we wanted to build a tool for coverage in a manner that would make them not have to choose between work and union [benefits].” 

The event also featured a panel discussion with Griffin, American Influencer Council founder and Executive Director Qianna Smith Bruneteau, Mayflower Entertainment Head of Business & Legal Affairs Katherine Buskariol, Settebello President and talent manager Byron Ashley Austen, and content creator and filmmaker Wes “Wuzgood” Armstrong. SAG-AFTRA Commercials Performer Committee member Natalia Castellano moderated the conversation, which covered the potential changes the new agreement brings to creatives working in the industry, as well as best practices for building an online presence and creating content consistently. 

“[I believe] that this contract will help pave the way for people who are working in the creator business and can be a stepping stone to help those individuals get into bigger projects that can help their career,” said Austen.

To watch the full presentation and panel, scroll below. For more about the Influencer Agreement, visit sagaftra.org.