The long writers’ strike that shut down work across film and television production throughout much of the summer appears to be nearing its end. Last evening, the Writer’s Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — the group that represesents the major studios in such negotiations — announced they had reached a “tentative agreement” that would finally start to get Hollywood back to work.
“The WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement,” the WGA wrote in a statement on Twitter. “This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support for our union sublings who stood with us for over 146 days. More details coming after contract language is finalized.” For sake of comparison, the last major writers’ strike, in 2007 and 2008, lasted 100 days.
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The deal must now be voted on by the WGA’s board, and then its members. The writers are not yet back to work; the final deal must be agreed to, so unless the WGA leadership gives its members the okay to start writing ASAP, the strike is still technically ongoing, at least for a short while longer. Here was what the WGA said in a message to its members:
If that authorization is approved, the Board and Council would also vote on whether to lift the restraining order and end the strike at a certain date and time (to be determined) pending ratification. This would allow writers to return to work during the ratification vote, but would not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.
And even once the writers’ strike is concluded, the studios and AMPTP still need to settle the other major Hollywood strike of 2023, with the actors and the SAG-AFTRA union.
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