- Writers and producers are close to reaching an agreement to end the Writers Guild of America strike after meeting face to face on Wednesday, people familiar with the negotiations told CNBC.
- The two sides have met and hope to finalize a deal on Thursday, the sources said. Although optimistic, people noted that if an agreement was not reached, the strike could last until the end of the year.
- On Wednesday evening, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released a joint statement saying the two groups had met to negotiate and would meet again on Thursday.
Writers and producers are close to reaching an agreement to end the Writers Guild of America strike after meeting face to face on Wednesday, people familiar with the negotiations told CNBC.
The two sides have met and hope to finalize a deal on Thursday, the sources said. Although optimistic, people noted that if an agreement was not reached, the strike could last until the end of the year.
On Wednesday evening, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released a joint statement saying the two groups had met to negotiate and would meet again on Thursday.
WGA members have been on strike for more than 100 days – with actors joining the picket line in July – leaving Hollywood production of TV shows and movies at a standstill. Production has been halted on several high-profile shows and films, including Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” Disney and Marvel’s “Blade” and Paramount’s “Evil.”
Earlier in the week, the writers union announced it would resume negotiations with the studios.
It appears to be the closest the two sides have come to a resolution since more than 11,000 film and television writers went on strike starting May 2. They argued that their compensation did not match the revenue generated in the streaming era.
Beyond higher pay, the WGA has pushed for new rules that would require studios to staff television shows with a certain number of writers for a certain period of time. Screenwriters also seek compensation throughout the pre-production, production and post-production process. Currently, authors are often expected to revise or submit new material without being paid.
In late August, AMPTP made public its latest proposal to the then-WGA and tensions between the two groups appeared to remain high.
Discussions between studios and writers have included conversations with top media executives, including Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. Discovery, Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal film executive Donna Langley.
The strikes have taken a toll on these media companies as they work to make streaming profitable and get people back into theaters.
Warner Bros. Discovery – owner of a television and movie studio, as well as the largest portfolio of pay TV networks – warned investors of the effects of the strikes earlier this month by adjusting its profit forecast. The company said it now expects its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to fall by $300 million to $500 million, which would put it in a range of $10.5 billion to $11 billion for the whole year.
At a conference earlier this month, Zaslav called for an end to writers’ and actors’ strikes.
“We need to do everything we can to get people back to work,” Zaslav told an investors conference. “We really need to focus, as an industry, and we are, on trying to solve this problem in a really equitable way.”
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
USA News Gb1
