The three-year contract agreement must be approved by the guild’s board and members before the strike officially ends.
On September 24, Hollywood studios and union leaders tentatively agreed to put an end to the nearly five-month-long historic screenwriters strike. However, no agreement has yet been reached for the striking actors.
In a joint statement, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the organisation that bargains on behalf of studios, streaming services, and production businesses, announced the agreement.
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Tentative deal reached to end the Hollywood writers strike |
Before the strike officially ends, the three-year contract agreement, which was reached after five exhausting days of new negotiations between WGA and AMPTP negotiators with occasional participation from studio executives, must be accepted by the guild's board and members.
The writers were informed in a lengthy statement from the guild that was posted by members on social media that picketing had been discontinued immediately but that the strike was still ongoing.
The agreement's terms were not immediately made public. More than 90% of members voted in favour of the tentative agreement to end the previous writers' strike in 2008.
Only five days before the strike would have gone on for its longest period in the guild's history and more than 70 years in Hollywood, an agreement was reached.
As a result of the arrangement, nightly network shows including ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" may soon resume airing.
Though talks between studios and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have not yet commenced, writers may be getting ready to open their computers once more, but life in Hollywood is far from back to normal. Crew members who were left unemployed by the strike will continue to be so for the time being.
"SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency, and solidarity on the picket lines," the actors union stated in a statement. "We remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members," the statement reads. "While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP's tentative agreement."
The guild continued to "urge the CEOs of the studios and streamers as well as the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand," according to the statement.
After talks resumed on Wednesday for the first time in a month, a solution to the writers' strike was put out. CEOs like Disney's Bob Iger, Netflix's Ted Sarandos, and Warner Bros.' David Zaslav. NBCUniversal's Donna Langley and Discovery are said to have directly participated in the negotiations.
Without the assistance of federal mediators or other government representatives, which was required in prior strikes, an agreement was achieved.
In a statement, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass congratulated the parties involved and expressed her hope other actors will soon have a similar outcome.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, followed suit and said that authors "went on strike over existential risks to their careers and livelihoods - voicing serious worries over the stress and anxiety workers are facing. I appreciate how the two sides could come to an agreement.
The Writers Guild of America's estimated 11,500 members went on strike on May 2 citing issues with compensation, the number of writing staffs on shows, and the usage of artificial intelligence in screenplay production. Although there have been no conversations about starting new negotiations with their union as of yet, actors who joined the writers on strike in July have their own problems.
Numerous scripted shows and other productions have been put on hold as a result of the writers' strike, including upcoming seasons of the television shows "Stranger Things," "The Last of Us," and "Abbot Elementary," as well as the movies "Deadpool 3" and "Superman: Legacy." Late-night talk shows and "Saturday Night Live" were also immediately suspended. Additionally, the Emmys were moved from September to January.
More recently, writers had targeted talk shows like "The Drew Barrymore Show," "Real Time With Bill Maher," and "The Talk" that were trying to break the restrictions of the strike by going back on the air. All changed their minds in the face of protests and pressure, and they are now set to rapidly resume.
A turning point occurred in Hollywood as a result of the joint strikes, which pitted creative labour against corporate leaders in an industry that has been profoundly altered by technology, from the seismic shift to streaming in recent years to the possibly paradigm-shifting rise of AI in the years to come.
The authors received a boost of star power and solidarity on July 14, more than two months into the strike, when they were joined by 65,000 striking actors from film and television.
The two groups had not participated in a strike as a unit since 1960. The writers' strike began and finished that walkout in order. Studios decided to deal with the writers first this time.
In August, the AMPTP made its initial approach to propose resuming negotiations. The talks ceased for a further month since the meetings were brief, infrequent, and ineffective.
General Asked Question:
Has the WGA reached an agreement?
The guild informed members via email that "WGA and the AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement." "Our union brothers and sisters who joined us on the picket lines for more than 146 days and their unwavering solidarity made this possible," the WGA said.
How long is writers strike 2023?
On September 24, Hollywood studios and union leaders tentatively agreed to put an end to the nearly five-month-long historic screenwriters strike. However, no agreement has yet been reached for the striking actors.
