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The writers strike is poised to end this week after the nearly five-month stand-off between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said they had reached a "tentative" agreement.
The deal, which will be voted on tomorrow (September 26), came after the WGA and a collection of studios, streaming services and production companies engaged in talks for five days last week. Exectuives from Netflix, Disney, Warner, and NBCUniversal joined negotiations last week.
Terms of the tentative deal have not been made public, but the WGA described the agreement as
exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” in an email to members.
Since the writers strike began in May production on many of the biggest TV shows, including The Last of Us, Stranger Things, The Handmaid's Tale, and Abbott Elementary, plus many daytime and late-night talk shows, have shut down.
Late-night shows are expected to resume production shortly but filming of any movies and TV will have to wait with Hollywood actors remaining on strike.
“We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand,” the Screen Actors Guild said in a statement marking the agreement made by the writers.
WGA picketing has been suspended ahead of the vote on Tuesday, though writers have been encouraged to march with SAG-AFTRA on its picket lines.
The strike, which has lasted 146 days, came amid a period of frustration from writers over their payment in the streaming economy. Additionally, fears were raised over the role of writers, background actors, designers and other creatives amid the rise in artificial intelligence technology.
Variety reports that the language around “the use of generative AI in content production” was one of the last parts of the deal to be agreed on between the union and studio bosses.