Written by Kianna Best on Sep 25, 2023. Posted in General Interest

WGA and AMPTP reach deal to end strike

UPDATE: As of 12:01am PT on Wednesday 27th September, the WGAW Board and WGAE Council voted to lift the strike, allowing writers to return to work during the ratification process. The updated Memorandum of Agreement sees minimums increases, improvements to pension compensations, firmer regulations around the use of AI, improved screenwriter employment terms, and better residuals.

The Guild stated: "The WGA reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on a new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement. On September 26th, the Negotiating Committee, the WGAW Board and WGAE Council all voted unanimously to recommend the agreement. It will now go to both guilds’ memberships for a ratification vote. Eligible voters will be able to vote from October 2nd through October 9th, and will receive ballot and ratification materials when the vote opens."

On Monday 25th September, after a 146 day strike, the WGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement for a new three year contract. Bringing negotiators from both sides, including major studio heads, talks resumed on Wednesday 20 September after a month long pause. Whilst details are ironed out over the coming few days, writers have been instructed not to go back to work and rather join the thousands of actors still on strike.

Following the announcement of the deal, the WGA stated: “We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional—with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

Image courtesy of Deandre Bush by Unsplash 

As the longest strike to affect Hollywood, the WGA started their strike on 2 May after concerns around fair compensation, artificial intelligence, better residuals, and staffing. During the almost 5 month long halt to the development of new shows, over 11,000 writers took to the picket lines. Now, with the end in sight, the steps towards Hollywood restarting production activity are in motion.

“Once the Memorandum of Agreement with the AMPTP is complete, the Negotiating Committee will vote on whether to recommend the agreement and send it on to the WGAW Board and WGAE Council for approval,” the statement continued. “The Board and Council will then vote on whether to authorize a contract ratification vote by the membership.

The final talks between the respective negotiators saw several senior company leaders come to the table including Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, chair of NBC Universal Studio Group Donna Langley Netflix’s co-chief executive Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery lead David Zaslav. As a resulf of the strikes, writers and studios alike faced hard hitting financial impact, as well as peripheral jobs including costume design, lighting and sound teams.

Once final details have been figured out, the first shows able to go back to regularly scheduled programming will be talk shows, expected to return to air as early as October.  Due to ongoing SAG-Aftra strikes, and thousands of actors still protesting for their asks to be met, acting based productions are still on hold.