Studios Make Their Latest Offer To The Writers Guild, And Talks Will Start Back Up Again Next Week:
Friday afternoon, the Writers Guild of America and representatives from the big studios met again to try to end the 109-day strike.
However, it didn’t look like either side made much progress toward that goal. Friday night, the group sent a message to its members letting them know that the two sides will meet again next week.
The guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture as well as Television Producers have talked every day for the last four days, but people familiar with the talks say that the two groups are still far apart on the most important topics.
In the message that the WGA sent to its members, it said that the two sides “keep going to exchange proposals” as well as will meet once again next week, but it didn’t say when.
At First, The AMPTP Wouldn’t Even Think About The Idea:
“Thank you for all the words of support and unity as we speak with the AMPTP. “Always be skeptical of stories from outside sources, and know that the Guild is going to let you know when we think there’s something important to say,” said the WGA’s working group.
At first, the AMPTP didn’t even want to think about the idea. But in its most recent plan, it offered to let showrunners choose how many writers to hire based on the show’s budget.
The WGA, on the other hand, has made it clear that it needs all shows to have a set minimum staff size. Both sides still don’t agree on a lot of other things. But the plan about the size of the TV team looks like it will be a big problem in reaching a deal.
Last Friday, The AMPTP Resumed Talks With The WGA:
Earlier in the day, several CEOs and other top executives from the companies met on a conference call to talk about what should be done next.
The leaders talked about how frustrated they were that nothing was getting done, but sources say it doesn’t look like the AMPTP plans to leave the table.
In the meantime, the management team has refused to make any more promises, saying that they don’t want to bargain against themselves.
Last Friday, the AMPTP and the WGA started talking again. On that day, the AMPTP gave the WGA a package of suggestions about things like the size of TV staff, the openness of streaming data, and artificial intelligence.
There Are 11,500 Members Of The WGA:
The guild has 11,500 members, and with that many people, it’s only normal that not everyone will agree on everything. But Variety talked to seven writers with different levels of experience.
Several current or past showrunners were willing to talk about why they didn’t like the idea, but only if they could remain anonymous. On Tuesday, the WGA told the companies what it thought.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the officials spent a lot of time talking about how to control AI. They were thought that they were making some progress, but there were still some problems.
Since May 2, When The WGA Strike Started, Most Scripted TV As Well As Movie Making In The US Has Stopped:
When the WGA strike started on May 2, most written TV and movie making in the U.S. stopped, and the fall TV plans were thrown off.
Since July 14, when the SAG-AFTRA strike began, no movies have been made in the U.S. or abroad, and a number of movies have been pushed back to the film calendar.
The WGA released a study on Thursday that said Netflix, Amazon, as well as Disney were getting too powerful in the entertainment business.
In The Spring, The WGA Said That TV Shows Ought To Employ Between Six And Twelve Writers:
The study said that the big companies were hurting people by doing things like keeping wages low, charging unfair prices, and putting out less material.
In the spring, the WGA said that TV shows ought to employ at least six to twelve writers, based on how many episodes are in a season.
Hurricane Hilary Will Approach The West Coast On Monday, Therefore There Will Be No Picketing:
At its meeting upon Tuesday, they decided to cut the suggestion by one writer, but they wouldn’t change the general format.
Since May 2, the WGA has had a lot of people on picket lines in both New York and Los Angeles. Due to Hurricane Hilary coming closer to the West Coast on Monday, there will be no picketing.
