The nearly five-month Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike that shut Hollywood down will reportedly come to a close at midnight now a new deal has been reached.
The WGA announced on Tuesday the strike will officially end at 12:01 a.m. PT now the union leadership authorized its 11,500 members to return to work.
“Tasks that for months were prohibited by strike rules — pitching, selling scripts, taking meetings, responding to notes — will then be sanctioned, while writers’ rooms can reconvene,” according to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
Elliot Page joins SAG-AFTRA members as they maintain picket lines in front of NBCUniversal on August 15, 2023 in New York City. (John Nacion/Getty Images)
The WGA negotiating committee said this new deal “allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.”
Union members will still need to vote to ratify the contract between October 2 and October 9 before the contract becomes official for the next three years. Per THR:
With top leaders in the room, the studios made changes to their position on issues like minimum staffing in television writers’ rooms and rewarding writers for the success of projects on streaming. Regulations on artificial intelligence proved to be a lasting sticking point, but the two sides eventually came to a compromise by Sunday night. In its communication to members about the agreement on Sunday, the WGA called the resulting agreement “exceptional.”
Despite a deal being reached, Hollywood may still continue to be on shutdown so long as the SAG-AFTRA continues its ongoing strike, which launched in July, a little over two months after the WGA.
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“SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency, and solidarity on the picket lines,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. “While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members. Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand.”
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