The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.
Negotiators concluded their discussions on Sunday following five consecutive days of talks. The strike, which began on May 2nd, is set to be suspended as guild leaders prepare to vote on formally lifting the strike order against AMPTP signatories.
The details of the contract agreement will be withheld until the final language is completed in the coming days. The WGA leadership is scheduled to vote on Tuesday, and assuming approval, the contract will be sent to the WGA’s 11,000 members for ratification.
“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” the WGA’s negotiating committee wrote in an email sent to members.
The end of the WGA strike, which produced a new-model streaming residual formula based on pre-determined, high-bar performance benchmarks for individual titles, is expected to expedite the conclusion of SAG-AFTRA’s strike which started on July 14. This would bring back the creative community to its typical production cycles.
However, the industry will require some time to resume normal production activities after a five-month pause. Studios and streamers have already begun planning for a return to production, inquiring about stage availability and production resources.
Negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP resumed on September 20 after a month-long stalemate. Key industry leaders, including Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, participated in marathon negotiations that ultimately broke the deadlock.
The AMPTP initially attempted to address the guild’s demands for a viewership residual and minimum staffing guarantee on August 11. However, the WGA deemed the offer inadequate, citing numerous loopholes and exceptions.
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