After Tuesday’s board votes, the Hollywood Writers Strike comes to an end, opening the door for the actors to make a deal as well.
After protesting for five months, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) came to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Sept. 24. A board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26, has officially ended the strike.
The Sept. 26 meeting was between the western and eastern branches of the WGA, their negotiating committees and Hollywood’s biggest studios. Topics of this meeting were possible dates film and TV shows could return and the new contracts between writers and studios.
For TV, late-night talk shows and comedy shows like “Saturday Night Live” will be the first to resume in the coming weeks. Expect these shows to have minimal guest appearances since the actors are still on strike. Screenwriters for scripted TV shows like “Stranger Things” and “Abbott Elementary” have returned to work on Sept. 27. Expect a longer delay for scripted shows to return to the screens due to the actors’ strike.
For movies, highly anticipated projects like James Gunn’s DC superhero films, Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” sequel, Paramount’s “Star Trek” reboot and “Rainbow Six” film, the “Minecraft” movie and the final “Fast and the Furious” have their writers returning to work. Similar to scripted TV shows, release dates are either postponed or will not be announced until the return of the actors.
As for contract details, the New York Times reports that writers will get a 76% increase of residual payments, a bonus from streaming services, guaranteed hiring of three writer-producers for first-season shows and a minimum of six writers for the writing room.
In terms of artificial intelligence, A.I., it can not be used to take writers’ credit and compensation away or be used to rewrite original material. A.I. technology can only be used for film and TV scripts that a studio already owns or if writers agree to use it for assistance.
Along with those terms the writers and studios have set, this new contract is worth an estimated $233 million annually. WGA will have till Oct. 9 to agree to this contact and terms, which is highly expected that they will.
While this is the step in the right direction for the industry, Hollywood’s actors continue their strike. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have been supportive since day one of WGA’s strike and started their strike on July 14, making it the first actors strike since 1980.
If a deal is made, films like “Mission Impossible,” Deadpool 3,” the “Gladiator” sequel, “Beetlejuice 2” and more will start shooting again. Studios will be able to announce release dates or postponements and actors will start promoting their films again.
Deadline reports that there will be a meeting on Oct. 2 between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP. There are still no details about the potential contract and new terms the actors are pushing for, but with the recent win for the writers, there is hope for actors to seal a deal.