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) announced on Sunday in Los Angeles that this is a fundamental agreement that still needs to be finalized. Hollywood writers went on strike at the beginning of May.
“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. The Bloomberg news agency reports that the agreement is for a period of three years. A contractual agreement still needs to be finalized. But this could happen as early as Tuesday. The WAG members then have to vote on the agreement.
Until then, the strike will continue, the guild announced, even if the WGA members should no longer take to the streets for themselves, but at most to support the actors and actresses who are also striking.
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.
Bloomberg also reports that studios and writers have agreed on the number of employees who will write a TV series. The number of writers should increase with the number of episodes in a season. Both sides also agreed on a structure with which authors should participate in the success of a series. According to the Bloomberg report, an agreement has also been reached regarding the use of artificial intelligence.
First double strike by writers and actors in more than 60 years
After unsuccessful negotiations for better working conditions, the more than 11,000 screenwriters of the Writers Guild began the industrial action 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). In mid-July, around 160,000 actors from the acting union SAG-AFTRA 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.