The Hollywood screenwriters’ strike, which lasted 148 days, ended at midnight (8 a.m. today in Lisbon), the leaders of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) union decided.
The decision was made unanimously by the boards of directors of WGA West and WGA East.
“This will allow screenwriters to return to work during the ratification process, but will not affect the members’ right to make a final decision on whether to approve the agreement,” the WGA said in a statement.
The agreement in principle, which was reached on Sunday, will be ratified between October 2 and 9. If the 11,500 members of the WGA reject the agreement, the strike will resume.
Television productions such as ‘talk shows’ should be the first to return to the airwaves. The trade magazine Variety indicated that information and entertainment broadcasts broadcast in the late afternoon on various channels could resume within two to three weeks.
About 11,500 WGA members began a strike on May 2 over salary issues and the use of artificial intelligence to create disputes.
The agreement between the WGA and the bosses of the major studios and streaming platforms ends the strike that has paralyzed the North American film and television industry, despite the continuation of the arm’s length between actors and studios.
The agreement includes “significant gains” in terms of salary, as well as protections to regulate the use of artificial intelligence.
The commitment the studios have made to screenwriters includes an increase in the minimum wage, extra bonuses for those who write the highest-rated shows and ways to ensure artificial intelligence is used without impacting their pay.
However, uncertainty remains in Hollywood, with actors represented by the union SAG-AFTRA remaining on strike and admitting that the resolution of this social conflict could take weeks.
SAG-AFTRA’s requirements go beyond those of the WGA.
The authors’ union is calling for a larger salary increase and the allocation of a real percentage of benefits to the actors, regardless of the content, with difficult negotiations expected.
Actors also want to ensure that studios will not use artificial intelligence to replace them and want to receive residual payments in the transmission model through platforms such as Netflix.
Previously, these payments were given to artists from revenue from series or films licensed for international markets or television rebroadcasts.
The strike of screenwriters and actors in Hollywood has already cost California about five billion dollars (4.7 billion euros), according to the Milken Institute.
Source: DN
