Writer’s Guild Reopens Negotiations With Hollywood

The Writer’s Guild of America has been on strike since May 2, 2023, leaving their jobs and protesting on the streets in front of production companies. This all changed on Wednesday, September 20, when they sat down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for negotiations for the first time since August.

Joining the WGA at the negotiation table are representatives from four major studios — Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and NBC Universal Studios Chairman Donna Langley. Afterward, the AMPTP released a joint statement after leaving the table with hopeful results, saying that they will meet once again the following day to continue negotiations.

The second day of talks, however, did not show much progress. Negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP lasted 10 hours, beginning at 9 a.m. and lasting until 7:30 p.m. with no deal being made. Furthermore, the WGA released an announcement to all of its members encouraging them to stand at the picket lines, even though they are returning to negotiations with the AMPTP.

The WGA has been on strike against the AMPTP to protest for increased and stable pay, as well as the use of artificial intelligence to create scripts. Previously, writers would receive passive income when their films and TV shows were broadcast on different channels. However, with the inclusion of streaming services, the pay of writers has significantly declined while the profit from streaming services has skyrocketed.

Now, hundreds of thousands of writers set up picket lines in front of production companies such as Netflix and Disney, refusing to return to work until a deal is made. Joining them are the Screen Actor’s Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, resulting in a complete work stoppage that has lasted for nearly 150 days.

The WGA and AMPTP met once during August and during this meeting, the AMPTP presented a proposal to the WGA detailing the wage increases and stable pay. However, it was rejected as the WGA had found many loopholes that would fail to protect writers from threats that started the writer’s strike in the first place.

If an agreement is made, then everyone is happy. In order to continue production, the AMPTP has to also reach an accordance with the actors who joined the writer’s strike. And at the moment, there has been no talk about negotiations with their union yet.