Hollywood strike update: WGA, AMPTP inch closer to ending the strike, crucial issues to be discussed soon; Details here

After long and painstaking talks, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have inched toward a deal to end the nearly five-month strike, though no agreement has been reached. There are strong indications that the two sides are closing in on a tentative agreement. In a short message sent to members, the WGA confirmed that negotiations are scheduled to resume shortly and thanked them for responding to the call to pack out the guild’s picket lines.

Top AMPTP executives attend talks

Senior AMPTP executives including Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos left the headquarters of the organization on Friday evening. Friday’s meeting ended on a positive note. However, many contentious issues are yet to be resolved.

Contentious issues

One of those issues is the 'success-based residual' that has been so crucial to the contract demands of WGA and SAG-AFTRA. It will be calculated at least in part by whether a given title is watched by a pre-determined percentage of a given streamer or platform’s subscriber base. It is one of the most contentious issues because it would represent a new compensation metric for the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement contract.

Talks on Generative AI

The other contentious issues include disagreements on generative AI in the creative process. Besides, issues like staff levels and minimum weeks of employment for episodic TV writers and streaming residuals are yet to be discussed.

Moving toward longest strike

The WGA represents more than 11,000 members, who have been on strike since May 2. It went on strike on May 2. Actors guild SAG-AFTRA joined the writers union on the picket lines on July 14. Saturday was the 145th day of the strike, which is approaching the longest strike in the union’s history, lasting 154 days in 1988.

After a gap of almost one month, the WGA and AMPTP resumed talks on September 20. Some last-minute issues cropped up on Thursday evening.

FAQs:

Name some of the biggest producers who attended those talks with the WGA?
Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos represented the AMPTP and attended the talks with the WGA.

When did the WGA strike begin?
The Writers' Guild of America went on strike on May 2. Actors guild SAG-AFTRA joined the writers union on the picket lines on July 14. Saturday was the 145th day of the strike.