In the USA, screenwriters and film studios have reached a tentative agreement after five months of strike. The WGA union speaks of an “extraordinary” solution. No details were given.
After almost five months of strike, there is a “tentative agreement” between the screenwriters’ union and the major studios and streaming providers in the USA.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) in Los Angeles announced that this is a fundamental agreement that still needs to be finalized.
Details of the agreement are still pending
More than 11,000 screenwriters went on strike at the beginning of May. The writers called for, among other things, salary increases, better working conditions, higher subsidies for health and retirement benefits and regulation of the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
“We can say with great pride that this agreement is exceptional – with significant gains and safeguards for authors in every sector of our membership,” the WGA said. However, details cannot yet be provided.
WGA representatives and representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) sat at the negotiating table for several days – for the first time in many weeks. It was said that Disney boss Bob Iger and CEO David Zaslav from media giant Warner Bros. Discovery took part in the talks.
However, the WGA made it clear that the strike would continue until a final agreement was reached – even if the WGA members should no longer take to the streets for themselves, but at most to support the actors and actresses who were also striking.
Actors’ strike continues
Around 160,000 members of the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA had joined the authors with similar demands. The fronts between the producers and the actors’ union continue to harden – there have been no talks since the strike began in July.
The first double strike by actors and screenwriters in the USA in more than 60 years has almost brought Hollywood to a standstill. Due to the labor dispute, practically no films and series could be filmed.
Due to the strike, actors are also not allowed to advertise their films. Film releases have been postponed and the awards season has also been affected. The world’s most important television award, the Emmy – originally scheduled for mid-September – will now not be awarded until January 2024.