WGA and SAG-AFTRA members picket outside Netflix studios. hoto by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
The Writers Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, putting the end of their months-long, historic strike within reach. The WGA will remain on strike — though picketing has been suspended — until the deal is approved and ratified by the guild members. A vote is expected Tuesday, Variety reports.
Terms of the deal were not revealed along with its announcement, sent out to WGA members on Sunday (September 24). “Though we are eager to share the details of what has been achieved with you, we cannot do that until the last ‘i’ is dotted... To do so would complicate our ability to finish the job. So, as you have been patient with us before, we ask you to be patient again – one last time.”
The WGA and AMPTP met twice this week for the first time since August 22. On Wednesday night (September 20), they released a joint statement announcing that they had met that day and would reconvene on Thursday. Sources told CNBC the two sides were nearing a deal, and negotiations continued throughout the weekend.
Hollywood writers have been on strike since May 1, when their contract with the AMPTP expired. The vote to strike was approved by a margin of more than 95 percent. Their main topics of concern are the rise of generative AI tools and the current streaming model, which has drastically decreased the income writers receive through residuals (the passive profits they earn when an episode or movie they worked on is re-aired on television), even as studios’ profits continue to soar from their deals with platforms such as Netflix and Hulu.
In July, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined the writers on strike, marking the first time since 1960 that both unions had been on strike at the same time. SAG-AFTRA has not yet ended its strike, despite reaching a tentative agreement in August on actors’ exclusivity, a top priority for the Guild. Production cannot resume in Hollywood until the SAG-AFTRA strike ends and a new agreement is approved.