Hollywood studios attempt to restart negotiations with writers

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers attempts to restart negotiations with the Writers Guild of America exactly three months after it voted to go on strike

• A group representing producers wants to resume talks with Hollywood writers
• Writers have been on strike since May 2 when talks broke down over pay and AI
• A separate actor’s strike began on July 13, leaving Hollywood crippled

The group that represents major Hollywood studios in trade union negotiations has called for a meeting with the Writers Guild of America to end a strike that has lasted nearly 100 days.

The president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers wrote to the writers guild to propose a meeting to continue talks, according to a note shared by the union to its members on Tuesday evening.

The writers have been striking since May 2 after their guild said producers had failed to address many of their core concerns – including the threat of AI on their jobs and the increasing prevalence of short-term contracts. 

‘The AMPTP, through Carol Lombardini, reached out to the WGA today and requested a meeting this Friday to discuss negotiations,’ read a WGA notice to its members.

‘We’ll be back in communication with you sometime after the meeting with further information,’ it added. ‘As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors. Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us.’

A group that represents major Hollywood studios in trade union negotiations has called for a meeting with the Writers Guild of America to end a strike that has lasted nearly 100 days. Strikers march past the WGA building during the 2023 Writers Guild Of America Strike

Carol Lombardini (pictured) is the president and chief-negotiator of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents firms including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony

Chief-negotiator for the Writers Guild of America, Ellen Stutzman (pictured), speaks outside Amazon Studios in Culver City, California, on July 19

Lombardini is the president and chief-negotiator of the AMPTP, which represents firms including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony. Her counterpart in the WGA is Ellen Stutzman.

It is the first significant progress since the strike began and could lead to the end of one of the two strikes that have been crippling Hollywood.

The writer’s strike has coincided with a separate strike by actors, which started on July 13, and remains in a stalemate.

It is the first time both groups have not been on strike simultaneously since 1960. The last writers strike began in 2007, lasted 100 days and cost the entertainment industry $2.1billion. 

It was not immediately known whether a similar attempt was made by the AMPTP to resolve with the actors, who are represented by a separate union, SAG-AFTRA.

Asked about the prospect of talks with either guild, a spokesperson for the AMPTP in an email said only that ‘We remain committed to finding a path to mutually beneficial deals with both Unions.’

Talks between screenwriters and their employers collapsed on May 1.

Issues behind the strike include pay rates amid inflation, the use of smaller writing staffs for shorter seasons of television shows, and control over AI in the screenwriting process.

‘I had hoped that we would already have had some kind of conversations with the industry by now,’ SAG-AFTRA Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told The Associated Press earlier on Tuesday, before the email was sent to writers.

‘Obviously, that hasn’t happened yet, but I’m optimistic,’ he added.

Despite the meeting, the WGA and AMPTP remain far apart on a wide range of issues. The studio group rejected the guild’s proposals for a TV staffing minimum and viewership-based residuals, among other items.

The WGA announced on May 1 that it failed to reach an agreement with the studios and streamers. Al Franken and Cynthia Nixon are seen attending the Writers Guild of America strike outside the NBC Building on May 23

The Writers Guild of America West offices are seen in Los Angeles as Hollywood film and TV writers begin a strike Tuesday

Alysia Reiner is seen attending the Writers Guild of America strike outside the NBC Building in New York on May 23

The WGA announced on May 1 that it failed to reach an agreement with the studios and streamers and accused the companies of having ‘broken this business’.

‘We explained how the companies’ business practices have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions,’ it said. 

Guild leaders have argued that they are attempting to make it easier for middle-class writers to earn a living in the unsteady business. 

In particular, the group accused the studios of turning their profession into a gig economy, meaning writers work on an almost freelance basis and do not have the stability of long-term employment. 

The changes to the industry have been caused largely by the advent of online streaming. Residual fees were previously negotiated by the WGA and paid to writers for repeat airings of TV programs, but those rates shrunk in the streaming era.

Another issue that led to the strike is span protection. Streaming has dramatically shortened TV seasons. Shows now run about eight to 10 episodes per season, as opposed to the former model of about 22 to 24 episodes.

Writers can still spend extended amounts of time working on shorter shows, effectively reducing their payment per episode. Span protections limit how long writers can work on an episode before the studio is forced to fork over more money.

Writers are now looking to expand span protections to apply and have them apply to more members.

Additionally, the guild is looking to boost minimum payment rates for writers that are inline with rising inflation rates and cost of living adjustments.

Each cycle, the WGA typically bargains for a 3 percent increase in the minimum payment rate. But some board members have, this cycle, called for a doubling of minimums, which may be a nonstarter for studios.

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