The Writers Guild of America is in the final phase of negotiations with Hollywood’s major studios after meeting on Saturday, according to reports.
An industry insider told Variety that the talks are “mainly down to language now” and that negotiations are in the “home stretch.”
According to Deadline, after a full day of negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the guild’s lawyers are reviewing what the studios call their “best and final offer.”
In a joint statement on Saturday, negotiators said, “The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining Saturday and will meet again on Sunday.”
Members of the Writer’s Guild have been on the picket lines for 145 days.
“We’re doing this for the future generations of writers and actors,” said Kelly Younger, a WGA member.
Negotiation meetings between the sides have made considerable progress in recent weeks, which may be attributed to the presence of four top executives: Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos.
The four CEOs, however, were not present during Saturday’s meeting at the Sherman Oaks Galleria as negotiators hammer out the fine print of the future three-year contract. Instead, they are said to be approving final touches from afar.
“The guild, as a whole, but WGA, in particular, are very careful to go through all of the fine print and make sure there isn’t anything they don’t want locked in,” explained Jeremy Fuster, a box office and labor reporter at The Wrap.
Striking writers say they were split with producers over issues such as higher residual pay, viewership transparency from streaming services, the size of writing staff on shows and the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of scripts.
Fuster said it appears as though an agreement is imminent but the WGA will be carefully considering its deal points.
“WGA has made it clear they’re not rushing to get a deal done,” Fuster said. “They’re being very deliberate with making sure how the language comes through and for their part, they have organized their membership very well to be patient for that results.”
The proposed three-year contract would bring an end to one of the longest strikes in Hollywood history; the WGA has been on strike since May 2 – 144 days ago. Nearly 20,000 writers have been without work or pay since the strike began.
Some picketers, however, remain hopeful that a deal will be finalized soon enough.
“I think it’s great that they’re talking,” said Susan Hurwitz-Arneson, a WGA member. “That feels like a really big change for us right now, that it feels like it’s legit negotiations versus just putting something on the table saying, ‘Take it or leave it.’”
Representatives from SAG-AFTRA are still hammering out a deal with AMPTP and are looking to end their picketing that started in mid-July.
