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Four Hollywood CEOs returned to the bargaining table Thursday for a second day of negotiations with the Writers Guild of America as the industry looked for signs of progress toward an agreement that would end the 143-day strike.
Shortly after 6 p.m., the CEOs were still in the room in Sherman Oaks as a marathon negotiating session continued.
CEOs attending the session again included Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos.
Sources said both sides were making progress in several areas, although significant problems remained. It was not clear whether the CEOs could return for a third day of negotiations on Friday, although the sources stressed that the parties want to seize the momentum and are committed to reaching an agreement.
They said studios had taken action in several areas that they hoped would be enough to break the deadlock. However, it remained unclear whether WGA leadership would view the AMPTP’s latest proposals and changes as sufficient to meet the authors’ demands.
The Alliance of Film and Television Producers is said to have offered a performance-related remaining amount in the form of a bonus for streaming shows that reach certain audience thresholds.
The WGA has proposed a viewership-based residual value that would increase by a set amount for every 2.5 million views, with a “view” being counted every time someone watched at least half of the show.
The WGA has also required a minimum headcount for each TV show, which would increase with the number of episodes in a season. The AMPTP has responded that staffing decisions are left to the showrunner and are not determined by a “one size fits all” formula. The studio alliance was understood to stick to this general position, although it may have made some changes to its offering.
The two sides also spent part of Wednesday’s meeting discussing artificial intelligence. The AMPTP has previously said the sites were close to an agreement that would allow writers to use AI without affecting their salary or creditworthiness. The crucial sticking point was the WGA’s demand that AI systems not be allowed to train on authors’ scripts.
If studios can resolve this issue with writers, it could help address the same issue with SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA has even greater concerns about the use of AI to recreate actors’ images and has also raised concerns about AI training.
The move has sparked significant optimism that a deal could be reached, with some predicting a tentative deal could even be reached on Thursday. But the WGA poured cold water on it, with some executives suggesting on Twitter that the rumors were only intended to raise hopes and make the WGA appear unreasonable if it rejected the latest offer.
The WGA walkout began on May 2nd. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14th.
Jennifer Maas and Cynthia Littleton contributed to this story.