Tilly Norwood

Tilly Norwood is not a human being. She is an AI-generated digital character — a synthetic performer — whose existence and use in studio marketing became the flashpoint for a major labour dispute in Hollywood. Her name has been adopted by SAG-AFTRA as shorthand for the category of AI-generated performers that the union argues should attract royalty payments when used in place of human actors.

The proposed 'Tilly Tax' is SAG-AFTRA's demand in its 2026 contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP): a per-use royalty studios would pay every time an AI-generated performer replaces a human actor. Revenue from the royalty would flow into union healthcare and pension funds. The union's chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland stated when resuming talks on 27 April 2026 that 'airtight AI protections' — including the Tilly Tax mechanism — are a precondition for any longer-term deal. The concept was first reported in SAG-AFTRA negotiations in the second Lowdown update on the topic.

The Tilly Tax is significant as a policy model rather than just a Hollywood contract dispute. If adopted, it would establish the principle that deploying synthetic labour carries a mandatory levy that funds the workers displaced — a template labour unions in other sectors are watching closely.