Carol Lombardini, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, reached out to her counterpart at the Writers Guild of America in an effort to restart negotiations, sources told Variety on Tuesday.
That is the first communication between the two sides since May 1, when talks collapsed and the WGA voted to go on strike.
The WGA informed its members of the outreach from AMPTP to Ellen Stutzman, the WGA’s chief negotiator, on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, industry insiders were buzzing about the possiblity of progress in the long-stalled WGA talks as word spread that the WGA’s contract negotiating committee called members to a meeting on short notice Tuesday afternoon.
“The AMPTP, through Carol Lombardini, reached out to the WGA today and requested a meeting this Friday to discuss negotiations,” the union stated in the message sent to members shortly before 8 p.m. PT. “We’ll be back in communication with you sometime after the meeting with further information. As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors. Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us.”
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The AMPTP, which bargains on behalf of the major studios, has been having internal meetings over the last few days as it seeks a path forward with the WGA. Those discussions lead to the decision that Lombardini would reach out to Stutzman to propose a one-on-one meeting for later this week to work out some details on how the sides can resume contract negotiations.
The WGA and AMPTP remain far apart on a wide range of issues. The studio group rejected the guild’s proposals for a TV staffing minimum and viewership-based residuals, among other items.
The outreach from management to the guild comes as the writers’ work stoppage reaches the three-month mark. SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 performers, went on strike July 14, joining writers in pressing studios to raise pay rates and residuals for streaming content and to develop rules and guardrails around the use of AI in TV and film. The simultaneous strikes by the writers and performers unions — first to hit Hollywood since 1960 — have shuttered most TV and film production. The impact on Hollywood’s supply chain will be significant in the coming months and will only grow with time.
After such a long period of impasse between AMPTP and WGA, there’s little doubt that management has given thought to offerings and areas of compromise that could help bring the sides closer to a settlement and a new contract. Lombardini and Stutzman are expected to focus on timing and logistics rather than deal specifics in Friday’s meeting, but it still might be a moment for the sides to float some trial balloons.
Moreover, after weeks of tough rhetoric from striking writers, WGA leadership is under pressure to deliver on key priorities outlined on the picket signs that have fanned out across Los Angeles, New York and other entertainment hubs since the scribes laid down their quills.
Among the WGA’s top demands is a plan to combat the proliferation of mini-room jobs by setting a minimum staffing level for episodic writers rooms depending on the number of episodes produced. The WGA also seeks to establish a minimum guarantee of 10 weeks of consecutive work for writers during the development process and at least three weeks per episode after the series is greenlighted. The WGA also has sharpened its focus on the need for regulation, rather than an outright ban, on the use of AI in WGA-covered writing work.
Mike Schur, a prominent showrunner and a member of the WGA negotiating committee, told Variety last week that the guild’s plan was for the AMPTP to make the first call.
“The plan is for them to call us on the phone and ask us to sit down,” he said. “We’re not calling them.”
WGA leaders have also made clear that the AMPTP will have to agree to negotiate on its full agenda, or the talks won’t be very productive.
“We have made it clear that the things we’re asking for are absolutely necessary,” said David Goodman, co-chair of the negotiating committee. “Until they agree with that premise, there isn’t going to be a conversation that’s going to be fruitful.”
Leaders of SAG-AFTRA have also said that they are open to resuming talks at any point.