Writers to AMPTP: We'll Keep Walking 'Til You Start Talking

Plus: more on that eyebrow-raising Netflix rumor that's been going 'round

ICEBREAKER The email WGA members received from leadership on Aug. 1.

On Day 92 of the writers strike, the studios reestablished contact.

Now what?

Last night, as you’re no doubt aware, AMPTP pres and chief negotiator Carol Lombardini sent word that the negotiating arm of Hollywood’s major studios would like to meet with the Writers Guild this Friday, presumably to reopen talks and find a path to a deal.

That missive must have come quite late in the day or was kept close to the vest, since as recently as yesterday at noon, even the guild’s top negotiating committee members said they didn’t have a clue about the timeline of the talks.

“I'm reading all those rumors in the press that the companies are wanting to get back. That's coming from them. We didn't put that out,” WGA negotiating committee co-chair David Goodman told me at the Universal rally over Sidewalk-gate, just hours before the guild informed membership of the latest development. “So that tells me there's some people over there who’ve had enough, and they want to get back to the table.”

The move is progress, yes, and will ideally get both parties back on track toward an agreement that works for the writers and the studios and streamers. But last we checked, there was still an enormous valley between the two on AI, streaming residuals, staffing minimums and a host of other issues at stake. And a meeting is just a meeting — there’s still a long way to go before a new three-year contract is hammered out.

The scribes I spoke to today were nonplussed, albeit optimistic.

“I am encouraged by the fact that they're thinking about maybe coming back to the table,” Mae Smith, whose credits include Billions and the upcoming AMC series Parish, tells me on the Disney picket line today. “But you know, until we hear any kind of official thing from the WGA about what those talks are gonna be like on Friday, I am continuing to be out here at the same exact level. So for me, it sounds like a good step. But until I know more, I'm just kind of reserving my judgment and seeing what happens… I am not going to turn the temperature down.”

WGA NBCU lot coordinator and The Boys executive producer Judalina Neira feels much the same, particularly amid a protracted battle between the writers and Universal Studios over the state of picketable terrain along Lankershim Blvd. that culminated in a petition and a rally and partially restored asphalt just a day prior.

“I’m hopeful that this could mean an end to the WGA strike soon,” she says. “That said, I feel like our resolve within the WGA hasn’t wavered, and if real gains can’t be made at the negotiating table, I know we’re willing to keep holding the picket line. We just fought for, and won, sidewalk access at NBCU. We’ll keep pounding that newly poured pavement to get the deal we need.”

An AMPTP spokesperson would only say, “We remain committed to finding a path to mutually beneficial deals with both Unions.”

The WGA cautioned its members, in last night’s brief missive, to be “wary of rumors.” And in the absence of concrete information, the gossip mill churns heartily.

One rumor that’s been whispered about town over the last few days centers on Netflix supposedly back-channeling and angling for a deal with the writers union outside of the AMPTP. But Goodman said yesterday he had heard no such thing, and Netflix declined to comment. Given that the AMPTP has reinitiated contact with the WGA, seems highly implausible, but it persists, so there you go.

For now, we can only wait and see. Goodman, a former WGA West pres who has participated in his fair share of negotiations, believes that the studios and streamers can move swiftly if they want to.

“Once the companies decide they're going to make a deal, a deal can be made very quickly,” he said on Tuesday. “The three or four weeks of negotiation that we did before the strike date, there was a lot of wasted time… Once the companies decide we're making a deal, it will go very quickly. Same goes for SAG. So it's a decision on the other side of the table to get serious and make a deal.”

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Today in Strike News

• Seven-figure donations from A-list actors have continued to pile in, totaling over $15 million, with contributions from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, and George Clooney. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Due to the strike, there was a 137 percent uptick in the number of accounts reactivated or created on Cameo in July compared to June. “I have two kids. There are only so much sources of income,” said actor Cheyenne Jackson, who’s now charging $95 a video on the service. “My husband cringed a little. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” (New York Times)

• According to a survey done by Horizon Media’s WHY Group, a majority of consumers are aware of and actively following the strike, with many taking the side of the writers and actors. “It is very clear that people are aware of what’s happening and how it’s going to affect them. I think that’s the biggest difference we’ve seen” compared to other strikes, says Maxine Gurevich, senior VP of cultural intelligence at Horizon WHY. (USA Today)

• In support of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, New York City’s Labor Committee gave the OK to a resolution that encouraged the AMPTP to return to the bargaining table. (Deadline)

• On the heels of his $1 million donation to the Entertainment Community Fund, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane appeared on the Fox picket line with the team behind the legendary animated series. (Deadline)

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Picket Sign of the Day

Theater Camp, but IRL.

(credit: SAG-AFTRA/Twitter)

Additional reporting by Matthew Frank.

Disclosure: Elaine Low is an inactive SAG-AFTRA member.