Deal Tentatively Struck in Writers’ Strike

Movies

The writers’ strike may be coming to an end. The WGA and the AMPTA have reached a tentative agreement, which the WGA described as “an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language,” in an email to “strike captains.” In other words, nothing is final yet, and the lawyers for both sides have to draft the actual contract before union leaders vote on and sign it, and then individual members have to ratify it. But they’ve reached an agreement on the basic ideas of what the new deal will be. The strike has lasted 147 days so far and is technically still ongoing, but picketing is being suspended (unless a talk show host tries to feed their staff, presumably). The WGA leaders seem rather pleased with the tentative deal:

“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

You have to wonder, though, given the AMPTP called it their “best and final” offer the night before the tentative agreement. That makes me think that the union is trying to save face and taking any deal they can sell to their members as a win. The details aren’t known yet, but it’ll be interesting to see what they get, especially on the AI front. Imagine a bunch of salary promises only to have writers replaced by a computer program. While it’s possible the contract will be rejected, I doubt it; the writers have been saying they’re broke and can’t pay their rent, with some even selling their houses. They need this to end a lot more than the studios do, no matter what they chant outside Drew Barrymore’s building. The actors, on the other hand, are still striking, and there’s no word on an impending deal, although if the AMPTP is settling with the writers, I doubt the people who are holding up film and TV production even more can be far behind. So, don’t worry; you won’t have to cry for the downtrodden little guys like Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Zegler for much longer.