Talks Between the Studios and Writers Guild to Restart Soon
After several anxiety-inducing weeks, there's movement on the negotiation front
When are the writers and studios going meet again? seems to be the question on everyone’s lips, and now we have an answer.
The Alliance for Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major studios and streamers from Disney to Netflix, said Thursday afternoon that the Writers Guild of America had reached out and requested a new meeting. The two parties are set to meet next week, it said.
“On Wednesday, September 13, the WGA reached out to the AMPTP and asked for a meeting to move negotiations forward,” said an AMPTP spokesperson in a statement shared with press. “We have agreed and are working to schedule a meeting next week. Every member company of the AMPTP is committed and eager to reach a fair deal, and to working together with the WGA to end the strike.”
Shortly afterward, the WGA sent an update to its members, confirming that a meeting was in the works:
The move follows several weeks of uneasy silence, during which the two entities had not returned to the negotiation table after a small cluster of meetups in mid-August. The guild had previously sent an update to its members noting that it had had productive conversations with individuals from legacy studios, and that it would be open to negotiating with entertainment companies outside of the AMPTP’s collective negotiating unit.
“One executive said they had reviewed our proposals, and though they did not commit to a specific deal, said our proposals would not affect their company’s bottom line and that they recognized they must give more than usual to settle this negotiation,” read last Friday’s letter from the WGA negotiating committee. “Another said they needed a deal badly.”
The AMPTP had responded that its “member companies are aligned and are negotiating together to reach a resolution,” and that “any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
It is Day 136 of the writers strike and Day 63 of the SAG-AFTRA strike, marking the two-month anniversary of the latter work stoppage.
Today in Strike News
The California Senate voted to pass SB 799, which would provide unemployment benefits to striking workers. The bill now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will decide on whether to sign it into law. (Los Angeles Times)
The Union Solidarity Commission (TUSC) is hosting an eBay auction to support crew members, in which big stars are offering different services for fans. For a price, Natasha Lyonne will help someone solve the New York Times Sunday crossword, Adam Scott will take his auction winner’s dog for an hour-long walk, and John Lithgow will even paint a watercolor portrait of the highest bidder’s pup. (NPR)
Real Time with Bill Maher will be returning to HBO next week, though the weekly talk series will be without the show’s monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial. “It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work … Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily,” Maher wrote on Monday. “I love my writers, I am one of them, but I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.” (Deadline)
The task of rerecording dialogue in post-production has been impossible without the use of actors, delaying certain films from being released. “ADR is a part of every film. You can’t get around it,” an insider at an independent distributor said. “Every film was at a different stage of production when the strike began, but I think it’s safe to assume that a great deal of films set to come out during the winter that are in post right now need actors working again to finish the job.” (The Wrap)
Some who are taking the mental toll of the strike especially hard are turning to grief support specialist Rebecca Feinglos, who tries to help writers and actors with their intense feelings of loss and devastation. “They’re losing out,” says Feinglos. “They’re feeling a loss every single day not doing the thing that they love.” (Los Angeles Times)
The idea of writers and actors being “cogs in a machine” has been a focal point of the discussions around A.I., but the concept itself has defined much of the industry push and pull between art and business, a theme that pops up in films like Modern Times, Blade Runner, and many more. (New York Times)
Additional reporting for Today in Strike News by Matthew Frank.
Disclosure: Elaine Low is an inactive member of SAG-AFTRA.
Picket Sign of the Day
WGA says negotiations resume Wednesday…
The timeline of offers by the AMPTP went undisputed by the WGA effectively placing the ball in the WGA's court as being their turn. That is why the WGA reached out to set a meeting. The standoff and time wasted has to be charged to the WGA for this round. Hopefully, with the pressure from showrunners and tv series like Maher and Drew will convince the WGA to make comprises and get a deal done. If they don't the AMPTP will make a deal with SAG and production will restart without the WGA rendering the union effectively a casualty of their own existential creation.