Striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) members picket with striking SAG-AFTRA members outside Paramount Studios on September 18, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Hollywood writers and studios have finalized the language of a tentative contract that will lead to the end to a nearly 150-day labor strike.
Union leaders “voted unanimously to lift the restraining order and end the strike as of 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET on Wednesday, September 27th,” the WGA said in a statement.
Talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes top studios like Disney, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery, resumed after months of starts and stops, ultimately leading to a preliminary deal.
The negotiating committee recommended the agreement and sent it to the Writers Guild of America West Board and the Writers Guild of America East Council for approval. Both the board and council voted to authorize a contract ratification vote by membership.
The whole process is expected to take between two and three weeks. WGA leadership noted that the strike is not over and no members of the guild are to return to work until the agreement is officially ratified.
Once negotiations are wrapped up with writers, the AMPTP will need to pivot to negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The acting guild’s members have been on strike since mid-July and are seeking contract updates similar to those requested by the writers.
The WGA contact could act as a template for SAG-AFTRA to draft its own deal with Hollywood studios.
Similar to writers, actors are looking to improve wages, working conditions, and health and pension benefits, as well as establish guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence in future television and film productions. Additionally, the union is seeking more transparency from streaming services about viewership so that residual payments can be made equitable to linear TV.
SAG-AFTRA has also looked to standardize the self-tape process, which became popular during the pandemic. Previously, actors would have an even playing field with in-person camera tests, but in recent years, actors have seen inequity in auditioning between those who can afford quality camera and lighting equipment and those who can’t.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.