Picketers march outside the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, as the Writers Guild of America strike enters its sixth week.
Image: Myung J. Chun | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
With the Hollywood writers strike approaching its 100th day and facing mounting pressure from striking actors, producers have expressed interest in a meeting.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) informed screenwriters that Carol Lombardini, the studio negotiator, has requested a discussion on Friday regarding the possibility of resuming negotiations with the guild.
The guild cautioned its members about rumors and assured them that any important news would be communicated directly by the guild itself.
While the meeting request does not guarantee a resumption of talks between producers and writers, it signifies the first sign of movement in the stalemate between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the WGA since the strike began in early May.
This request comes as the pressure on AMPTP to resolve the labor disputes has been mounting in recent weeks.
Last month, tens of thousands of actors joined the picket lines, resulting in a standstill of Hollywood productions and marking the first simultaneous actors’ and writers’ strikes since 1960.
Under the leadership of President Fran Drescher, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has taken a firm stance against the AMPTP, publicly criticizing studio executives and standing firm on their demands.
Hollywood performers are seeking improvements in wages, working conditions, health and pension benefits, as well as the establishment of guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in future television and film productions. The union is also looking for more transparency from streaming services regarding viewership data to ensure equitable residual payments compared to linear TV.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, emphasized their readiness to return to the negotiating table and urged AMPTP to resume talks in order to quickly get the industry back to work.
In response, AMPTP stated its commitment to finding mutually beneficial deals with both unions.
Building Pressure
The fiery rhetoric from the acting guild, including the public condemnation of Disney CEO Bob Iger, may have prompted producers to seek the resumption of talks with the writers.
This is compounded by the mounting tension between industry scribes and studio producers. Reports surfaced last month about alleged tactics that studio producers planned to use against writers, including waiting for them to run out of money and possibly lose their homes to force them to come to the negotiating table.
Although the AMPTP denies these reports, studio executives have been vocal about what they perceive as unreasonable contract demands.
The WGA is advocating for higher compensation and residuals, especially for streaming shows, as well as new regulations that would require studios to have a certain number of writers for a specified period when staffing television shows.
The guild is also seeking compensation throughout the entire process of pre-production, production, and post-production. Currently, writers are often expected to provide revisions or create new material without being paid.
The WGA also shares similar concerns regarding the use of artificial intelligence in scriptwriting.
The shutdown of film and television productions has further exacerbated the challenges for Hollywood producers, resulting in release date disruptions. Movies scheduled for next year are already being rescheduled, and the upcoming fall television season is expected to be affected.
Even completed films may need to be rescheduled, as actors are unable to promote projects due to the strike, hindering marketing efforts.
Media companies are also grappling with the increasing number of cord-cutters and the need for profitable streaming businesses in an uncertain advertising market. However, the impact of the work stoppage on conversations with advertisers has been minimal so far, although it could cause disruptions if it continues into the new year.
During their recent earnings calls, Netflix and NBCUniversal parent company Comcast expressed their commitment to finding a solution with the writers and actors. Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global will report their earnings on Thursday and Monday, respectively.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
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