Hollywood Writers Strike Tentative Agreement to End 5-Month Walkout
Union leaders and Hollywood studios have reached a tentative agreement to end the historic screenwriters strike that has lasted nearly five months. However, the fate of striking actors remains uncertain as no deal has been reached for them yet.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced the deal in a joint statement. The agreement was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and the extraordinary support of other union siblings who joined them on the picket lines for over 146 days.
The three-year contract agreement, which was settled after five days of renewed talks, must still be approved by the guild’s board and members before the strike officially ends. In the meantime, picketing will be immediately suspended, but no one is to return to work until instructed otherwise.
Although the terms of the deal have not been announced yet, it is a significant step forward for the writers who went on strike on May 2. In 2008, more than 90% of members approved a tentative deal to end the last writers strike.
The agreement comes just in time, as the strike was about to become the longest in the guild’s history and the longest Hollywood strike in over 70 years. As a result, nightly network shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live! could soon return to the air.
However, the situation is far from resolved in Hollywood. Talks have not yet resumed between studios and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), leaving crew members who were left without work during the strike unemployed for now.
SAG-AFTRA congratulated the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement but emphasized that they remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for their own members. They urge the studios and AMPTP to return to the table and make a fair deal.
The proposed solution to the writers strike followed renewed talks between the WGA and AMPTP, including the direct involvement of studio executives such as Bob Iger of Disney, Ted Sarandos of Netflix, David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Donna Langley of NBCUniversal. Unlike previous strikes, no federal mediators or government officials were involved in the negotiations.
The strike, which involved approximately 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America, was sparked by issues of pay, the size of writing staffs on shows, and the use of artificial intelligence in script creation. As the strike progressed, actors also joined the picket lines in solidarity, adding their own issues to the negotiations.
The strike immediately impacted late-night talk shows and Saturday Night Live, leading to hiatuses. It also disrupted the production of numerous scripted shows, including popular series like Stranger Things, The Last of Us, and Abbot Elementary, as well as major films like Deadpool 3 and Superman: Legacy.
While the tentative agreement is a positive development for the writers, the Hollywood industry still faces challenges and uncertainties. The resolution of the strike paves the way for potential negotiations with the actors’ union, but it remains to be seen when talks will resume and what outcomes they will bring.
Overall, the tentative agreement signals progress in resolving the writers strike, but there are still hurdles to overcome before Hollywood can fully return to business as usual.
