The writers’ union and Hollywood studios have reached an agreement in principle to end a historic strike that has lasted almost five months.
The WGA (Writers Guild of America) announced the agreement in a joint statement with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), a group that represents Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony, published on Sunday.
The agreement “was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and the extraordinary support of partner unions who joined the picket line for more than 146 days,” the WGA said in an email to its members.
The agreement, which will be valid for three years, was reached after five marathon days of negotiations and must be approved by WGA officials and members before the strike officially ends.
As soon as this happens, productions such as talk shows will be able to return.
Actress and host Drew Barrymore had already announced in the middle of this month that she would return to recording the daytime talk show without the presence of the striking writers, and although she was not technically breaking the strike, the decision was highly discussed. .
However, the Hollywood film and television industry will remain far from normal, as the actors’ strike will continue and negotiations between the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA and the studios have not resumed.
In a statement, SAG-AFTRA congratulated the WGA for reaching the agreement “after 146 days of incredible strength, resilience and solidarity on the picket lines.”
“While we look forward to reviewing the interim agreement between the WGA and AMPTP, we remain committed to reaching the necessary terms for our members,” the union stressed.
SAG-AFTRA continued “urging CEO [presidente executivos] studios and platforms and AMPTP come back to the table and reach a fair agreement.”
The strike of Hollywood writers and actors has already cost California about five billion dollars (4.7 billion euros), according to the Milken Institute.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement congratulating both sides on the deal and said she hoped the same could happen soon with the actors.
“We must now focus on recovering the entertainment industry and all the small businesses that depend on it,” Bass said.
About 11,500 WGA members went on strike on May 2 over pay issues and the use of artificial intelligence to create storylines.
Actors and screenwriters want to ensure that studios do not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace them and they want to receive residual payments in the streaming model through platforms like Netflix.
Previously, these payments were granted to artists from the income of series or films licensed for international markets or broadcast on television.
Source: TSF
