Progress and maybe an end? There was speculation in Hollywood on Friday, the third day of a new round of negotiations that could end the screenwriters’ strike that has paralyzed the industry for nearly five months.
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The studios and the WGA, the industry’s writers’ association, resumed talks on Wednesday after nearly a month of radio silence about sharing streaming revenue and regulating the use of artificial intelligence.
According to industry observers, there are signs of progress emerging from the discussions. On Thursday, the big names from Disney (Bob Iger), Netflix (Ted Sarandos), Warner Bros. (David Zaslav) and NBCUniversal (Donna Langley) were at the table.
According to the trade magazine Deadline, you also have to be present on Friday.
In another encouraging sign, the WGA and employers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), issued a joint press release Wednesday evening announcing the extension of talks.
According to many observers, this unusual approach raises hopes of an early agreement. At least it suggests that the gap between the two parties has narrowed after 144 days of strikes that brought the industry to a virtual standstill.
Actors have also been on strike since mid-July, paralyzing most film and television series production in the USA.
In early September, the Financial Times reported on a Milken Institute study that estimated the cost to the California economy of this dual social movement, unseen since 1960, at $5 billion.
Screenwriters and actors have similar demands.
The sticking point remains the distribution of the revenue associated with streaming: they want to be able to earn much more if one of their films or series is a hit on a platform, rather than receiving a lump sum payment, which is usually quite low in popularity anyway. from the program.
The two industries are also calling for safeguards against the use of artificial intelligence: actors fear that their image or voice will be cloned, while screenwriters fear that AI could be used for scripts and they will be paid less, or that their scenarios will be used to train robots .
Even if an agreement was reached between studios and screenwriters, actors would still go on strike. Their union, SAG-AFTRA, has not spoken to employers since mid-July. But according to the trade press, an agreement with industry leaders would pave the way for an end to the actors’ strike.