After a few days of positive negotiations, it’s looking increasingly likely the writers’ strike may be in its final days. The latest report from one Hollywood trade suggests chatter between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) is in the “home stretch,” with one insider even saying all that’s left to do is get the attorneys involved to draw up right legal language.
Variety says the lawyers are “huddling on the fine print of language in complicated contract issues such as the use of generative artificial intelligence and groundbreaking elements for the WGA’s minimum basic agreement.” Those have been two of the WGA’s biggest hurdles throughout the strike, with the union seeking to curb the usage of AI technology in an effort to generate scripts. The WGA has also been hoping to get the studios to agree to minimum sizes for writers’ rooms, guaranteeing a certain number of writers will be staffed on each series or film.
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Though studio bosses like Disney’s Bob Iger and Warner Bros. David Zaslav have been personally negotiating on behalf of the studios for much of the week, the trade says no CEOs or corporate leads were included in Saturday’s meeting, suggesting things may be close to complete.
Why are the writers striking?
Much of the WGA stance has hinged on new regulations surrounding streaming royalties and the usage of artificial intelligence in the writing and development processes.
“Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal — and though your strike vote gave us the leverage to make some gains — the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing,” the WGA said in a statement on May 1st. “We must now exert the maximum leverage possible to get a fair contract by withholding our labor.”
The statement continued: “The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing. The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”
The WGA has been on strike for 144 days as of this writing.
