Hollywood Writers Reach Tentative Agreement to End Historic Strike
LOS ANGELES – Union leaders and Hollywood studios have reached a tentative agreement to end the historic screenwriters’ strike, which has lasted nearly five months. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) released a joint statement announcing the deal.
The three-year contract agreement, reached after five days of intense negotiations, must still be approved by the guild’s board and members before officially ending the strike. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The strike, which began on May 2, involved approximately 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America. The writers walked off the job over issues such as pay, the size of writing staffs on shows, and concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in script creation.
The strike immediately impacted late-night talk shows and Saturday Night Live, and disrupted the production of numerous scripted shows and films, including Netflix’s Stranger Things, HBO’s The Last of Us, and ABC’s Abbot Elementary. It also caused the postponement of the Emmy Awards.
With the tentative agreement in place, nightly network shows could return to the air within days. However, talks have not yet resumed between the studios and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), so crew members affected by the strike will remain unemployed for now.
The agreement between the WGA and the AMPTP was achieved without the involvement of federal mediators or government officials, which had been necessary in previous strikes. The negotiators reportedly included top executives such as Bob Iger of Disney, Ted Sarandos of Netflix, David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Donna Langley of NBCUniversal.
While the writers’ strike nears its end, negotiations with the actors’ union have not yet resumed. SAG-AFTRA issued a statement congratulating the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement but emphasized its commitment to achieving fair terms for its members.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass both expressed hope for a resolution in the actors’ strike soon.
Once the tentative agreement is approved, it will mark the end of the longest strike in Hollywood in over 70 years. The last writers strike, in 2008, was resolved with over 90% member approval.
In the coming days, it is expected that late-night talk shows and other affected productions will resume, bringing relief to the entertainment industry and fans alike. However, while the writers celebrate their progress, attention will now shift to resolving the remaining issues with actors and achieving a fair deal for their members.
