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After a long day of negotiations on topics like AI and data transparency, the meeting between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended Thursday evening, with plans to resume talks the following day.
Sources familiar with the negotiations say much of the session was spent alternating between parties and subsequent meetings, followed by numerous election meetings where workers and management met. The negotiations, which began around 8:30 a.m. and ended around 6:00 p.m. at the AMPTP offices in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, covered issues surrounding the WGA’s top priorities, including artificial intelligence and residual compensation tied to success individual streaming projects.
The studio sources stated that action has been taken in both areas and there is more work to be done regarding these two issues as well as television staffing needs. One of the key questions surrounding streaming transparency and compensation is the yardstick by which success can be measured. And according to multiple studio sources briefed on the discussions, AI remained a sticking point for both parties during the session.
According to , the two sides are expected to meet again on Friday, with four top Hollywood executives also in attendance. The WGA Negotiating Committee confirmed this late Thursday evening, writing to members: “The WGA and AMPTP met today to negotiate and will meet again tomorrow.” Your Negotiating Committee welcomes all the messages of solidarity and support we have received in recent days received, and asks as many of you as possible to stand on the picket lines tomorrow.” Notably, the statement did not come from both the WGA and the AMPTP, as was the case in the Guild’s update to members the previous day was the case.
Once again, these great executives – Disney’s Bob Iger, Universal’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav – attended Thursday’s negotiating session, as they did on Wednesday. Their highly unusual presence (major Hollywood companies typically send their labor representatives to lead the negotiations), as well as a joint statement from the WGA and the AMPTP, their first in this contentious 2023 round of negotiations, sparked some optimism among observers on Wednesday about progress made. On Thursday, rumors swirled around the industry that a deal was imminent or imminent.
But talks ended on Thursday evening without an agreement, although sources stressed that compromises would be made.
The ongoing WGA strike has lasted 143 days so far and is now approaching the longest strike in the union’s history: the 1988 walkout, which spanned 154 days. The length and critical expansion of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which began July 14, has tested worker solidarity, studio wallets and will across the industry.
Kim Masters contributed reporting.
September 21, 9:51 p.m Updated with WGA Negotiating Committee update.