WGA Meetings Continue Thursday Following ‘Encouraging’ Talks to End Strike
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced in a joint statement that talks will resume Thursday after “encouraging” talks yesterday to end the strike. Several top CEOs joined the talks Wednesday in Sherman Oaks, including Netflix's Ted Sarandos (pictured, left), Disney's Bob Iger (pictured, right), NBCUniversal's Donna Langley, and Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav. All four CEOs are expected to return on Thursday.
The one-sentence statement reads, “The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow.” Variety‘s source describes the talks as “encouraging.”
Residuals and AI Are the Focus of WGA and AMPTP Talks
Variety reports:
“The WGA is seeking a residual formula that would be based on the number of views each show gets on a streaming platform. The studios have refused to do that, though they have agreed to share some viewership data with the union.
The guild is also seeking a mandatory minimum staffing level for each writers room in TV. The AMPTP countered with a proposal to allow showrunners to hire at least two writers per show.
The AMPTP is also offering a 15% first-year hike in minimum rates for writer-producers, which would include a new minimum tier 10% above the rates for story editors. The WGA has sought a tier that would be 20% higher than the story editor rate.
The studios have already accepted a WGA proposal to guarantee that if writers use artificial intelligence to help write their scripts, they will not lose out on credit or pay. The two sides have been hung up, however, on a union demand that AI not be allowed to train on writers’ scripts.”
An insider tells the Wrap, “I think there’s even more urgency by the two sides to get a deal done than there was in August. It’s still going to take many, many days of talks between the negotiators and all the labor lawyers to get this done. But having the people at the top serious about doing whatever it takes to get a deal is the most important thing.”
The WGA strike, which began on May 2, has pushed the release dates for many films to 2024 and makes it unlikely to salvage the fall 2023 TV season. Shows that do premiere, such as American Horror Story: Delicate, only have half a season in the can because the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes stopped production.
Robert DeSalvo is a professional writer and editor with over 25 years of experience at print and online publications such as Movieline, Playboy, PCH, Fandango, and The A.V. Club. He currently lives in Los Angeles, the setting of his favorite movie, Blade Runner. Robert has interviewed dozens of actors, directors, authors, musicians, and other celebrities during his journalism career, including Brian De Palma, Nicolas Cage, Dustin Hoffman, John Waters, Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, Bryan Cranston, Anne Rice, and many more. Horror movies, sci-fi, cult films as well as gothic, postpunk, and synthwave music are what Robert geeks over.
