After nearly five months, the historic Hollywood writers' strike appears to be coming to an end. On Sept. 24, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced that the union reached a tentative three-year contract agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). If the deal is approved by the WGA's board and council, a vote will be held to officially end the strike.
"What we have won in this contract — most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd — is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days," the union wrote in a bulletin shared with its members. "It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal."
Earlier this year, failed negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP led the former to vote yes to authorize a strike on May 1 (by a historic margin of 97.85 percent), which immediately went into effect the following day. According to Variety, the call for a strike was the result of the WGA seeking changes to writer compensation and working conditions in Hollywood — including a "sizable increase in minimums, better formula for residuals on streaming platforms, and a minimum staffing requirement for all TV shows."
On May 2, the Writers Guild of America West's Twitter account announced that their strike commenced after six weeks of negotiating with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount+, and Sony under AMPTP's umbrella. "Though our Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing," the labor union wrote in another tweet.
During the writers' strike, writers who are members of the WGA — including their agents or anyone acting on their behalf — were prohibited from writing, pitching, or negotiating for work. The purpose, according to the labor union, was to ensure the best possible contract for writers going forward, which they've seemingly earned now.
Actors who are part of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are still striking until they, too, reach a deal with the AMPTP. The actors' union, like the writers, are seeking better pay and residuals for their contract; they officially went on strike on July 14 after negotiations failed with the AMPTP, per Deadline. The SAG-AFTRA strike, which bans actors from promoting projects in interviews or conventions in addition to stopping work on all current projects, has already had visible consequences. On July 13, per CNN, "Oppenheimer" actors exited the movie during its London premiere, and director Christopher Nolan told reporters that they were "off to write their picket signs." Since then, several other stars have pulled back on participating in and promoting projects even with SAG-AFTRA interim agreements — which allow members to work on non-WGA-covered projects. Compared to previous strikes, the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes are largely fueled by the entertainment industry's major shift to streaming content. While TV shows and movies have adjusted to the ever-growing tech era, one thing that hasn't evolved is how studios pay creators, but that may soon change. So, what do these strikes and the WGA's tentative deal mean for the future of entertainment? Ahead, find answers to your biggest questions, including when some since-paused TV shows can be expected to return to your screens.
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