CNN –
The striking writers and Hollywood studios are in the “final stages” of negotiations and hope to reach an agreement by the end of the weekend to end the historic work stoppage that has crippled the entertainment industry, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spent Saturday negotiating for the fourth straight day.
The four big studio bosses — Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, Disney chief Bob Iger, Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal studio chairman Donna Langley — were no longer in the Sherman Oaks room Saturday afternoon, one person said said, indicating that almost all major issues have been resolved. The person emphasized that although the studio heads were not directly in the room, they were fully involved in the process.
Spokespeople for the AMPTP and WGA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The WGA went on strike on May 2, with the work stoppage reaching its 145th day on Saturday, just two weeks after the longest strike in the union’s history, which lasted 154 days in 1988. Many productions had already been halted before SAG-AFTRA joined the union’s WGA strike on July 14.
The negotiations between the two sides led to disputes over wages, worker protection and artificial intelligence.
Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN.