Writers reach tentative deal with studios

There is a tentative deal between the Writers Guild of America and studio representatives, according to media reports, and Monday it looks like the monthslong strike is nearly over.

The proposed three-year contract, which would still have to be ratified by the 11,500 WGA members, would boost pay rates and residual payments for streaming shows and impose new rules surrounding the use of artificial intelligence, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“I am hopeful that this tentative deal meets the needs of the WGA members who have sacrificed so much during this difficult but worthy and necessary strike. With this deal, these past 140 days could protect writers’ livelihoods for decades to come,” County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement.

“After a nearly five-monthlong strike, I am grateful that the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a fair agreement and I’m hopeful that the same can happen soon with the Screen Actors Guild,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “This historic strike impacted so many across Los Angeles and across the nation. Now, we must focus on getting the entertainment industry, and all the small businesses that depend on it, back on their feet and stronger than ever before.”

While the WGA and the studios have reached a tentative agreement, it will take some time to finalize the deal. The agreement needs to be approved by union members after it is reviewed by the WGA negotiating committee and sent to union leaders for review.

“What we have won in this contract — most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2 — is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” the WGA negotiating committee said in a statement. “It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.

“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

The agreement has yet to be completed with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Once complete, it will be voted on by the negotiating committee and it will decide whether to recommend it to the WGAW Board and the WGAE Council for approval. If it is approved, it will go to the WGA members for a vote.

“If that authorization is approved, the Board and Council would also vote on whether to lift the restraining order and end the strike at a certain date and time (to be determined) pending ratification. This would allow writers to return to work during the ratification vote, but would not affect the memberships right to make a final determination on contract approval,” according to the statement.

The leadership votes are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday and the negotiating committee said it will provide a more comprehensive summary of the deal if it is approved. Until then, the strike continues.

“To be clear, no one is to return to work until specifically authorized to by the Guild. We are still on strike until then. But we are, as of today, suspending WGA picketing. Instead, if you are able, we encourage you to join the SAG-AFTRA picket lines this week,” according to the negotiating committee’s statement released Sunday.

“Finally, we appreciated your patience as you waited for news from us — and had to fend off rumors — during the last few days of the negotiation. Please wait for further information from the Guild. We will have more to share with you in the coming days, as we finalize the contract language and go through our unions’ processes,” the statement concluded.

Writers, who went on strike May 2, were joined on the picket line in July by the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union. There have been no known contract talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA since that strike began.

Both unions are pushing for protections against the use of artificial intelligence and improvements in salary, particularly residuals for successful streaming programs.

With negotiations seemingly stalled earlier this month, the WGA negotiating team issued a statement suggesting some traditional Hollywood studios should break ranks with the AMPTP and reach a deal directly with the writers’ union. The WGA suggested it had spoken with some studio executives who believe a deal could be quickly struck.

“So, while the intransigence of the AMPTP structure is impeding progress, these behind-the-scenes conversations demonstrate there is a fair deal to be made that addresses our issues,” WGA negotiators said at the time. “… We have made it clear that we will negotiate with one or more of the major studios, outside the confines of the AMPTP, to establish the new WGA deal.

“There is no requirement that the companies negotiate through the AMPTP. So, if the economic destabilization of their own companies isn’t enough to cause a studio or two or three to either assert their own self-interest inside the AMPTP, or to break away from the broken AMPTP model, perhaps Wall Street will finally make them do it.”

The AMPTP, however, issued a statement of its own saying all of its members are committed to working within the alliance to reach a deal for all studios.

“The AMPTP member companies are aligned and are negotiating together to reach a resolution,” a statement from the alliance said. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false.

“Every member company of the AMPTP wants a fair deal for writers and actors and an end to the strikes, which are affecting not only our writer and actor colleagues, but also thousands of others across the industry. That is why the AMPTP has repeatedly put forward offers that address major priorities of the WGA, including a last round of offers on Aug. 17 and 18.”

The dispute over who should speak for the studios seemingly opened the door for the current negotiations.