Writer’s Guild Come To “Tentative Agreement” With Hollywood Over Strike (Photo: Katharine Collins)
Some potentially good news came out of Hollywood this morning as it was announced that the WGA (Writer’s Guild Of America) and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), after five days of intense negotiations, have come to a “tentative agreement” which could see an end to five months of strikes… Well, one of them anyway…
In a letter to members, the WGA said they had come to “an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language.” The union has suspended picketing of studios, however, they are still on strike and are not authorized to return to work until the deal is finalised.
We don’t yet have actual details of the deal, but the WGA has said “that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.” We should know more in the next few days, but the guild leaders have said they won’t release that “until the last ‘i’ is dotted” and it is ready to present to their members.
Assuming the deal is ratified, it will end the 146-day strike by the WGA over issues relating to pay, staffing of writer’s rooms, the use of AI, and residuals from streaming services. However, that is only one half of the puzzle. SAG-AFTRA, the actor’s guild, is still on strike, and the AMPTP have not yet even begun negotiations with that group, so it could still be a while before we see things in Hollywood moving again.
This deal would allow series such as the late-night chat shows (Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, Jimmy Fallon etc…) to get back in the studio. What won’t yet be able to film is the scripted drama and comedy (i.e. the ‘Chicago’ series, ‘NCIS‘, ‘The Rookie’ etc…), until the actors and the AMPTP reach a new deal. However, there is some overlap in the demands of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, so this deal being ratified should speed up the process for the actor’s guild. Whilst picketing is suspended for the WGA, they have encouraged its members to join the SAG-AFTRA picket lines this week in solidarity.
“What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd – 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,” continues the letter to members. “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 should hear more over the next few dates, but at least this looks to be a positive sign that things are moving in the right direction.
