More black smoke after the meeting of the Hollywood screenwriters union with the CEOs of the major companies and broadcasting services. Following its latest face-to-face appearance, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has released details of the contract offer submitted to the Writers Guild Association. The WGA responded to the proposal, which unionists say contains “restrictions, loopholes and omissions that do not adequately protect motion picture and television authors from the existential threats that led to the strike” four months ago.
Hollywood film studios have made public the proposed agreement to end the writers’ strike, which has halted film production for 113 days. The effort aims to sidestep formal negotiations with the union, which employs more than 11,000 writers and screenwriters. The settlement proposed by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, negotiating on behalf of the studios, calls for the “biggest pay increase” in more than three decades that was a key point of contention. Protections were offered regarding the use of artificial intelligence, “data transparency” for broadcast viewers and the training of writers to become presenters.
Several executives of major Hollywood corporations, including David Zaslav of Warner Bros. and Disney chief Robert A. Iger, met with officials of the Writers Guild of America. The chiefs have expressed their commitment to end the strike, which reached its 113th day yesterday.
“Our priority is to end the strike so members of our talent community can get back to doing what they do best by ending the hardships the industry is going through. We hope the WGA thinks the same way we do,” said Alliance President Carol Lombardini. The writers were of a different opinion: “We were faced with a conference where the producers tried to explain to us how good their offer was.”
The writers have been on strike since May and the actors joined in mid-July. Strike rules prevent stars from promoting their work in any way. Therefore, red carpets of premieres and festivals, interviews, television appearances and awards are prohibited. The postponement of the 75th edition of the Emmy Awards in January is a sign that turmoil is passing in the dream industry. More than 110 days have passed, a significant milestone in a city that still remembers with horror the strike of 15 years ago, resolved by the signing between the parties on the hundredth day. This year, agreement seems remote, given that in more than three months, producers and protesters have met only once.