On Day 113 Of The Writers’ Strike, Hollywood Studios Say What They Are Willing To Do

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On Day 113 Of The Writers’ Strike, Hollywood Studios Say What They Are Willing To Do:

The fact that the plan was made public on August 11 was a strange move, and it seemed like an attempt to get around the union leadership and speak to rank-and-file members.

In a letter to its members shared today, the group said, “We will continue to push for proposals that completely solve our problems and not settle for half-measures like those provided by the companies that submitted their latest offer upon August 11.”

“We are still committed to direct talks with the companies,” the guild said. The strike has been going on for 115 days now.

In today’s message, the WGA admits that the companies are getting closer to meeting some of the guild’s key strike requests, but not close enough.

The Union That Represents 11,500 TV And Movie Writers Who Are On Strike:

On the hot-button topic of artificial intelligence, the group said, “We have had real talks and seen action on their part about AI regulations. But we’re still not where we should be.”

The major entertainment studios got the unusual step upon Tuesday night of making public the details of their latest offer to the connection which represents 11,500 striking TV and movie writers. This is thought to be an attempt to break a labor standoff that has stopped almost all Hollywood production.

The studios have to decide if they should move the release dates of big-budget movies such as “Dune: Part Two” to the following year and if the network TV program for the 2023–2024 season can be saved or if it will have to be made up of reality shows as well as reruns.

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Companies Proved In An MBA That AI Is Neither A Person Nor A Professional Writer:

Shortly before the plan was made public, the heads of several of Hollywood’s biggest studios, like David Zaslav of Warner Bros.

A statement from the union’s bargaining group says that Discovery and Disney’s Robert A. Iger met with people from the Writers Guild of America to talk about the new plan.

For their part, the companies have confirmed that “because generative artificial intelligence (GAI) does not constitute a person, it is not a “writer” or “professional writer” as defined within this Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) as well as therefore, written material produced by GAI is not going to be considered literary material under this as well as any previous MBA.”

The AMPTP says that this plan “provides important safeguards that safeguard writers from being hurt if any portion of the script is based upon GAI-produced material.” This means that the use of GAI-produced material won’t affect the writer’s pay, credit, or separate rights.

Studio’s Offer “Failed To Protect Artists From The Existential Dangers That Made Us Strike Within The First Place:

By putting out the plan, the companies are basically going around the guild’s working committee and going straight to the rank-and-file members.

They are betting that if their proposal looks good enough, the rank-and-file members will put pressure on their leaders to make an agreement.

The writers’ union said that the studios’ offer “failed to adequately protect artists from the existential threats that made us go on strike in the first place.” The union said that the companies’ plan to make it public was a “bet that we would compete against each other.”

It’s been 113 days since the writers went on strike. On August 11, the companies and the writers got back together to talk for the initial time since the beginning of May. Since then, people in the entertainment business have been hopeful that the labor issues might be getting better.

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Companies Still Don’t Want To Regulate How Our Work Is Used To Teach AI:

The WGA, on the other hand, states that the companies “continue refusing to regulate the utilization of our work to teach AI to write fresh material for a motion picture.”

Minimum staffing and length of employment for people who work in TV writers’ rooms is another strike problem. Again, the companies have made changes after saying at first that the guild’s plan amounts to “a hiring quota which is incompatible alongside the creative nature of our industry.”

In its most recent proposal for high-budget SVOD as well as pay TV series or serials, for example, the AMPTP has countered that “the showrunner may choose at least a pair of writers to be employed for an amount of no fewer than twenty consecutive weeks within the writers’ room, but not to exceed the length of the writers’ room.”

Companies “Brought Up The Idea Of An MBA Guarantee Of A Minimum Number Of Staff And Length Of Time”:

But this isn’t sufficient for the guild, which stated today that the companies “launched the idea of an MBA promise of minimum staff size as well as duration.”

But their small plan has so many flaws, limits, and gaps that it’s hard to pick just one. This makes it pretty much useless.”

But the fact that the Alliance of Motion Picture as well as Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the studios, made its plan public shows that talks may have again come to a stalemate.

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Most of the time, the studios and the writers’ union decided to keep the media out of their talks, as well as the studio alliance only gave public comments a few times before the guild.

The Guild Additionally Requested That Writing Crews Be Able To Get Full Pension And Medical Payments:

In terms of transparency, the group says that “the companies declare they have made a major concession by agreeing to let six WGA staffers study limited streaming viewership data for the following three years, so we can come back in 2026 and ask again for a viewership-based residual.”

However, “no writer can find out from the WGA how well their project is doing, let alone get a residual based on that data.”

The companies are additionally agreeing to a provided “second step” for dramatic screenplays. This means that when a company hires a writer to write the initial draft of a new screenplay, it must provide the author the first chance to do a rewrite at not less than the useful minimum compensation.

The group has also asked that writing staff be able to get full pension and medical payments. The AMPTP has agreed to this, even though at first they didn’t like the idea and wouldn’t make a counteroffer.

The New Offer From The AMPTP Would Give P&H Payments To Teams Of Two Writers:

Under the AMPTP’s new offer, teams with two writers would get P&H payments as if they were people. However, the group says that this isn’t applicable to teams of at least three writers.

The group also said that many of the AMPTP’s new ideas, such as pay raises, “are from a deal negotiated through the DGA over eighty days ago.”