The Writers Guild of America met with the studios on Tuesday, and a deal was agreed upon. The WGA strike is officially over, and everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.
The vote to end the strike came from unanimous votes by the WGA’s negotiating committee. The WGA strike is officially over, and the ratification vote will occur from October 2 to October 9.
The strike lasted about five months, 148 days to be exact. The writers are on board on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 12:01 a.m.. The new deal will last until 2026.
The Agreement Between the WGA and the Studios
The agreement between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers includes increased pay. The minimum by five percent for most writers for the first year, four percent for the second year, and 3.5 percent the year after.
It will also increase health care rates and pensions. Writers will be given bonuses on residuals based on viewership for streaming.
There are new viewership-based rewards in the agreement for writers for streaming shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu.
Also, an agreement for studios to share privileged information with the writers on the number of hours streamed.
There will be increases in minimum weekly pay rates, and showrunners will not be forced to hire a minimum number of writers.
Possibly the most polarizing issue between the writers and the studios is the impact artificial intelligence will likely have on the industry.
As per the agreement, there will be rules put in place concerning the use of AI. Artificial intelligence like ChatGPT will not be used to create “source material” and “Can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.”
The use of AI would also be at the writer’s discretion, but it will not be required that a writer use AI. The company must inform the writer if any resources provided have been generated using AI.
Actors Still On Strike and Picketing
While this is great news, it’s not quite yet over. Actors are still on strike. The WGA is separate from SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
IT will still be a while for everything to go back to normal. Fall TV will still be a lot of reality TV, but meetings can start, writing can commence, and certain shows will return within two weeks.
This list of shows includes our late-night comedy shows, like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. Daytime TV will also come back fairly quickly.
It will only be when the actors hammer out a deal with the major studios and return to work that we will see production going back to business as usual for Hollywood.
The WGA concluded, “We can say with great pride that this deal is exceptional with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”
This new contract is historic for the WGA. Here’s to hoping the actors follow suit.
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