Also, Ukraine said it killed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander.
Hollywood writers reached a deal to end their strike
The Writers Guild of America, which represents more than 11,000 screenwriters, could begin finalizing a deal on a new contract with entertainment companies as soon as tomorrow. The 146-day strike all but ended after the two sides reached a tentative deal on Sunday night.
But with the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, still on strike, the only productions that could restart in short order would be ones without actors, such as late-night shows and daytime talk shows. SAG-AFTRA and the studios have not spoken in more than two months, and no talks are scheduled. But the prospective writers’ deal should provide a blueprint for the actors, since many of their demands are similar.
The Writers Guild got most of what it demanded: increases in compensation for streaming content, concessions from studios on minimum staffing for television shows and guarantees that artificial intelligence technology would not encroach on writers’ credits and compensation.
The tentative deal came after several senior company leaders joined the talks directly — among them Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive; Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-chief executive; and David Zaslav, who runs Warner Bros. Discovery.
Analysts have estimated that studios will forgo as much as $1.6 billion in global ticket sales for movies whose release was pushed to next year because of the actors’ strike. California’s economy alone has lost more than $5 billion from the Hollywood shutdown, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
What’s next: Writers’ rooms could get up and running soon. Writers Guild leadership must vote to approve the deal, which could happen as soon as tomorrow, and then the full membership must vote on whether to ratify the contract. Leadership must also vote on whether to end the strike, which could happen as the ratification vote among rank-and-file writers is underway.
For more: The Dealbook newsletter looks at how the Writers Guild deal reflects organized labor’s current strength.Ukraine said it killed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander
Three days after Ukraine’s special operations forces said that they had struck a headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean city of Sevastopol while officers held a meeting, Ukraine’s military said that the commander of the fleet was killed in the attack.
