Negotiators representing the Writers Guild of America and major studios reached a tentative agreement for a new labor contract, ending a writers’ strike that began in early May.
The Writers Guild of America and the major Hollywood studios have reached a tentative deal that would end a strike that has lasted 146 days, tossed thousands of people out of work and exposed deep anxiety over changes brought by technology.
The proposed three-year contract, which would still have to be ratified by the union’s 11,500 members, would boost pay rates and residual payments for streaming shows and impose new rules surrounding the use of artificial intelligence.
“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 negotiating committee said in a Sunday night message to its members.
The writers have been on strike since May 2, seeking protections from the ways in which streaming and other industry shifts have threatened their livelihoods.
With the tentative pact with the WGA done, entertainment company leaders are expected to turn their attention to the 160,000-member performers union, SAG-AFTRA, to accelerate those stalled talks in an effort to get the industry back to work. Actors have been on strike since mid-July.
The twin strikes have taken a heavy toll on crew members who made financial sacrifices in a historic show of solidarity. Small businesses that depend on the entertainment industry also suffered.
The writers’ strike was, in many ways, a response to the tectonic changes wrought by streaming. Shorter seasons for streaming shows and fewer writers being hired have cut into guild members’ pay and job stability, making it harder to earn a sustainable living in the expensive media hubs of Los Angeles and New York, guild members have said.
The studios came into negotiations with their own set of challenges.
The pay-TV business is in decline because of cable cord-cutting and falling TV ratings, which have eroded vital sources of revenue. At the same time, the traditional companies have spent massively to launch robust streaming services to compete with Netflix, losing billions of dollars in the process.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers represents a diverse set of companies. Its members include entertainment-only companies like Netflix; traditional studios including Warner Bros. Discovery and Walt Disney Co.; and tech behemoths like Apple and Amazon.
The strike was one of Hollywood’s longest. After long lulls, talks accelerated in recent days when company CEOs came to the bargaining table. The two sides resumed negotiations Wednesday for the first time since Aug. 22.
The road to an agreement was rocky.
The writers picketed major studios, effectively bringing much of Hollywood’s film and scripted TV production to a halt.
