On Thursday, negotiators for the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Hollywood studios will meet again to resolve an about five-month standoff that has disrupted film and television production.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the WGA, which represents Walt Disney, Netflix, and other media organizations, carried talks for the first time in about a month on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, the two sides published a joint statement stating simply: “The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow.”
According to a source close to the studios, to support spark a deal, Wednesday’s meeting the meeting on Wednesday was attended by Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Comcast’s NBCUniversal Studio Group Chairman Donna Langley, and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
Individuals in the room defined the session as “encouraging,” the source said, and the four executives could return to the discussions on Thursday.
CNBC, quoting people related to the negotiations, said writers and producers were close to an agreement and expected to get a deal on Thursday. But if a deal is not reached the strike could stay through the end of the year, CNBC reported.
The WGA went on strike in May after negotiations got to an impasse over fair pay, minimum staffing of writers’ rooms, and the part of artificial intelligence (AI), among other matters.
The SAG-AFTRA actors union called a work blockage in July, setting Hollywood amid two simultaneous strikes for the first time in 63 years. No discussions are currently planned between the actors and the studios.
