WE'VE GOT A DEAL: Writers, Studios Reach Tentative Agreement

Guild calls deal 'exceptional,' with 'meaningful gains and protections for writers'

(credit: WGA/ x.com)

FINALLY, we have a deal. On Day 146 of the writers strike, the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have struck a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.

“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” said the WGA negotiating committee in a letter to membership. As the lawyers hammer out the details, the guild is not yet sharing the exact terms of the contract.

“What remains now is for our staff to make sure everything we have agreed to is codified in final contract language. And though we are eager to share the details of what has been achieved with you, we cannot do that until the last ‘i’ is dotted. To do so would complicate our ability to finish the job. So, as you have been patient with us before, we ask you to be patient again – one last time.”

Now it’s time for the procedural elements: the negotiating committee has to vote on whether to recommend the agreement and send it to the WGA West board and WGA East council for approval; those two vote on authorizing a ratification; and so on.

The guild emphasized that “no one is to return to work” and that writers are still technically on strike until they get the go-ahead. But all picketing has been halted for now — though the WGA is encouraging writers to continue to join performers on the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, which is now on Day 73.

Less than an hour after the WGA released its memo, the guild and studios issued a very brief joint statement through the AMPTP’s recently hired crisis PR firm, The Levinson Group:

“The WGA and AMPTPT [sic] have reached a tentative agreement.”

Here’s the full memo that the WGA sent to its members a little after 7 p.m. Pacific Time: