Leaders of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the powerful screenwriters’ union, approved the recent pay agreement with studios on Tuesday night and on Wednesday reported the return of their members to work after a nearly five-month strike that paralyzed Hollywood.
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The union’s board “voted unanimously to recommend the salary agreement,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “The strike ends this Wednesday at 12:01 a.m.,” Los Angeles time.
Specifically, the agreement can theoretically still be rejected by the 11,500 screenwriters represented by the WGA in the USA: it must be the subject of a vote that will take place “between October 2nd and 9th,” the syndicate said.
AFP
However, most industry experts believe that this ratification should be a formality. While they wait for the trial to be completed, industry professionals can return to work on Wednesday.
Many American series and films that are still in the early stages of writing can be rebooted in this way. Late-night talk shows hosted by hosts who need scripts are also expected to return to air sometime next month.
Presenting the agreement reached with the studios on Sunday, after five days of a new round of negotiations, the WGA assured that it was an “extraordinary” compromise.
In their opinion, this includes “significant gains” in compensation as well as protective measures to regulate the use of artificial intelligence.
AFP
But even after the screenwriters are finally confirmed, Hollywood will still be far from a return to normality. Because the actors, represented by the SAG-AFTRA union, are still on strike.
A solution to this social conflict, which has been going on since mid-July, could still take a few weeks. Because some of SAG-AFTRA’s demands go beyond those of the WGA.
The negotiations are therefore likely to be difficult. Especially since studios know that what they provide to actors will serve as a standard for the industry’s technical jobs, whose collective bargaining agreements are up for renewal next year.
Even if the actors go back to work, it will certainly be months before everyone gets back on set and catches up on the backlog from countless Hollywood productions.