Hollywood Writers Finally Ready to Roll Credits As Strike Ends

The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have reached a deal.

The tentative three-year agreement, which took place Sept. 24, 2023 and still needs to be ratified, sets forth protections for television and film writers from AI, a gradual wage increase over the life of the contract, and a viewership-based residual model. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of the biggest improvements is the creation of minimum writers’ room size requirements and a guaranteed length of time that writers work on a show. 

These specific gains do not take effect until Dec. 1, 2023, so anything written before that date is not bound by those terms. Originally, the WGA was looking to get a 16% increase in residuals but ended up getting 12.5%. Even if the agreement is not ratified, it can still go into effect if a majority of members vote to adopt it.

“What we have won in this contract—most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd—is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” the WGA said in a statement.

Feeling joyful connection w fellow WGA writers on this strike victory

Weve shown the world where power is. We get our demands by withholding labor & shutting shit down

We were inspired by the strike wave happening b4 ours, & we r definitely inspiring others on strike lines now

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) September 27, 2023

According to Rolling Stone, had the strike lasted another week, it would have broken a record set in 1988 for the longest writers work stoppage in American history.

In August, the WGA received a counteroffer from the studios that it said was designed to get the writers to stop short of gains they desired. Because they did not take a deal that would have been friendly to the studios and streaming services, the writers secured an 18% increase in wages for shows and films that run at least 96 minutes, as well as a 26% increase in residuals for television and film projects that have reruns.

this is HUGEl! cliff notes: every writer in the room isn’t guaranteed an episode BUT if you get one it’s a big deal bc it’s a credit AND an additional script fee on top of your weekly rate. but until now that didn’t apply for staff aka the most junior writer #writersstrike

— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) September 27, 2023

The writers strike may have concluded, but SAG-AFTRA is still on its work stoppage. Deadline reports that that strike could end as soon as next Friday if an expected meeting with the AMPTP goes well.

The actors union has been on strike since July 14 after joining the striking writers in solidarity, which created the nation’s first joint strike since President John F. Kennedy was in office.

SAG-AFTRA’s spokesperson released a statement on Sept. 26 that said, “We have no confirmed dates scheduled and there will not be meetings with the AMPTP this week. When we do have dates confirmed, we will inform our members. No one should rely on speculation.”

As the dust on this strike settles one thing has become clear.

The deal took roughly 10 days.

10 days. That’s it. The studio CEOs got serious and we had a deal in 10 days.

When those 10 days happened was not the decision of the writers. It was the decision of the AMPTP.

— Daniel Kunka (@unikunka) September 27, 2023

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