After an “encouraging” in-person meeting, negotiators from the striking Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios are moving closer to an agreement to end the strike.
After Wednesday night’s meeting, the two sides released a joint statement saying: “The WGA and the AMPTP met today for negotiations and will meet again tomorrow.”
Sources told CNBC that the two sides hope to strike a deal and that an agreement between the two could come as early as Thursday.
This is the closest the two sides have come to an agreement since the strike began at the beginning of the year. While sources say they are optimistic, the strike could last through the rest of the year if the deal is not reached.
According to Portal, the meeting was attended by Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Comcast’s NBCUniversal Studio Group chairwoman Donna Langley and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
The Writer’s Guild has been on strike since May and was later joined by the Screen Actors Guild. Meredith Stiehm, left, president of the Writers Guild of America West, and Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, attend a rally
After an “encouraging” in-person meeting on Wednesday, negotiators from the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Hollywood studios are moving closer to an agreement to end the WGA strike
Pictured: Walt Disney Company Chairman Bob Iger
CNBC entertainment reporter David Faber reported that both sides hope to reach an agreement on Thursday.
“After today’s in-person meeting, writers and producers are moving closer to ending the WGA strike,” he tweeted Wednesday evening.
“We met today and hope to finalize the agreement tomorrow, say people close to the negotiations. While they are optimistic, they warn that without an agreement tomorrow, the strike is likely to last until the end of the year.”
If no agreement is reached, Faber is firmly convinced that the strike will last until the end of the year.
A source told The Hollywood Reporter that “the CEOs have cleared their calendars and now want to sit down and have a real conversation.”
The source said the WGA presented a list of hierarchically important issues before the meeting.
“It’s been a long time coming; Everyone has pain. “Let’s go in there and sort this out,” the source told Hollywood Reporter.
Another source told the outlet that company leaders “prepared the negotiations” on a Zoom ahead of Wednesday’s negotiating session.
The two sides released a joint statement after their meeting early Wednesday evening, saying: “The WGA and the AMPTP met today for negotiations and will meet again tomorrow.”
This is the closest the two sides have come to an agreement since the strike began at the beginning of the year
While sources say they are optimistic, the strike could last through the rest of the year if the deal is not reached
“They feel like the smaller the group, the more meaningful it will be.” “They want to get in a room and figure everything out,” the source told Hollywood Reporter.
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery said the ongoing strike by actors and writers will result in losses of up to $500 million this year.
Hollywood is experiencing a double work stoppage for the first time in 63 years, halting productions across the industry and costing the economy billions of dollars.
In July, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) decided to show solidarity with the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), which had been on strike since May, after negotiations with the studios failed.
In August, Hollywood studios made what they said was their “best offer” to end the writers’ strike, but the Writers Guild of America (WGA) criticized the offer because it “did not adequately protect them” and the union promised to stop the picket line to continue.
The Writer’s Guild has been on strike since May – the first time in 16 years – and was later joined by the Screen Actors Guild, bringing its entertainment industry to a virtual standstill.
SAG-AFTRA members join the PSA union outside the Netflix and HBO offices in Hudson Yrds, NYC
(LR) Alexandra Shipp and Anya Taylor-Joy join the picket line outside Paramount Studios on September 19, 2023 in Los Angeles, California
In July, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) decided to show solidarity with the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), which had been on strike since May, after negotiations with the studios failed
The package put forward at the time by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) included the highest pay increase in 35 years, as well as artificial intelligence protections and some residual wage increases, the group said in a statement.
The AMPTP proposal, proposed to the guild on August 11, also included a commitment not to use AI-created content as literary material and to share streaming airtime data.
The studios proposed increasing pay rates by 5 percent in the first year of the contract, four percent in the second year and 3.5 percent in the third year – less than the 6-5-5 formula supported by the WGA, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.