Artificial intelligence, ratings-based pay and the size of writers’ rooms continued to dominate the final day of negotiations.
After a long day of negotiations on issues such as AI and data transparency, Thursday’s meeting between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended in the evening, with plans to resume talks the following day.
Sources familiar with the negotiations say much of the meeting was spent alternating between the parties meeting together, followed by numerous caucuses where labour and management met separately. The negotiations, which began around 8:30 a.m. and ended around 6 p.m. at the AMPTP offices in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, covered issues surrounding the WGA’s top priorities, including artificial intelligence and residuals tied to the success of individual streaming projects.
Studio sources noted that progress has been made on both issues, and that there is more work to be done on both, as well as on TV staffing needs. One of the key issues around streaming transparency and remuneration is the metric by which success can be measured. And according to multiple studio sources briefed on the discussions, AI remained a sticking point for both sides during the meeting.
The Hollywood Reporter understands that the two sides are expected to meet again on Friday, with four top Hollywood executives in attendance. The WGA negotiating committee confirmed this late Thursday night, writing to members: “The WGA and AMPTP met for negotiations today and will meet again tomorrow. Your bargaining committee appreciates all the messages of solidarity and support we have received over the past few days and asks that as many of you as possible join us on the picket lines tomorrow.” Notably, the statement did not come from either the WGA or the AMPTP, as did the guild’s update to members the day before.
Once again, the major executives – Disney’s Bob Iger, Universal’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav – attended the bargaining session on Thursday, as they did on Wednesday. Their highly unusual presence (major Hollywood companies usually send their labour relations executives to handle negotiations), as well as a joint statement issued by the WGA and AMPTP, their first in this contentious round of 2023 negotiations, sparked some optimism among observers on Wednesday that progress was being made. By Thursday, rumours were flying around the industry that a deal was close or imminent.
But the talks ended without an agreement on Thursday evening, although sources insisted that compromises had been made.
At 143 days so far, the ongoing WGA strike is closing in on the longest strike in the union’s history: the 1988 walkout, which lasted 154 days. Its length, and the crucial addition of the SAG-AFTRA strike that began on 14 July, has tested the solidarity of the workers, the pocketbooks of the studios and the will of the entire industry.
