The strike of major Hollywood screenwriters ended after about five months. The Writers Guild of America (WGA), the union of film and television writers in the United States, announced that its 11,500 members can return to work on Wednesday. The strike caused several billion dollars in economic damage in California alone.
A large part of the book's wishes have been met. The studios' offer includes a gradual pay rise over the three years of the contract, better healthcare and pension arrangements and clear agreements on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the business. For example, under the new contract, writers can now choose to use AI when crafting scripts, but the studio cannot request the use of the software.
“These are the basics that studios previously said they would never give us,” writer and negotiating committee member Adam Conover posted on the social media platform '.
Screenwriters have been on strike since the beginning of May, partly because they want more royalties and have demanded better rules for using artificial intelligence in creating scripts for films and series. Negotiations were halted for several months. The studios and streaming services, united in the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), made a “final offer” for a new three-year contract on Saturday, shortly after talks resumed.
Hit actors
The screenwriters received support from 160,000 members of the actors union SAG-AFTRA in early July. They are also not satisfied with the terms offered in the new contract with AMPTP. The simultaneous strikes put additional pressure on studios and streaming services. Much of the production in the United States has stopped. Actors also stopped coming to promote films and series that had already been completed, which meant that a large number of films that were scheduled to be released this year were postponed until last year.
Agreement with the writers creates optimism among the striking actors. They hope they can quickly resolve their differences with the studios. “I heard it was an exceptional and historic agreement,” writer and actor Mel Shimkowitz told Reuters during a stroll outside the Netflix office. “Whatever agreement we have with one union, the other union can use it as a model for their own agreement.” . But SAG-AFTRA is not yet ready to reach an agreement. The association wrote on X: “Our fight is not over yet. We only deserve a fair agreement. We continue to push, fight and persevere.”
Now that writers can return to work, talk shows can air again. Filming cannot resume until the actors also reach an agreement. It is estimated that the two unions' strike caused economic damage worth $5 billion (4.7 billion euros) in California alone.
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