Hollywood’s writers and actors are on strike

Well-connected CNBC anchor David Faber cites people close to negotiations between the major Hollywood studio producers and striking writers, saying the sides “hope” to finalize a new deal tomorrow. The WGA strike began in early May before the actors (SAG-AFTRA) also went on strike in mid-July, marking the first time that has happened in 63 years.

They cited some similar issues in trying to protect members’ livelihoods as streaming entertainment grows and as studios begin to use generative AI tools in the entertainment business.

Hollywood producers are trying to turn up the pressure on striking writers — but writers aren’t biting. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) publicly released its counteroffer to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Tuesday, which details proposals surrounding AI, residuals, streaming data transparency, and more.

This is the same counteroffer that the Hollywood studios first presented to writers on August 11th, with the AMPTP claiming it “addresses all of the issues the Guild has identified as its highest priorities.” As outlined in the document, the AMPTP proposes higher wages and streaming residuals, along with a requirement of at least two employees in the writers’ room and a guaranteed minimum of 10 weeks of employment.

The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) wrote in an update yesterday that bargaining talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are ongoing after the two resumed negotiations just over a week ago (via Deadline). The WGA also says the talks will continue next week.

The guild and movie studios re-started negotiations after meeting earlier this month for the first time since the strike began over three months ago (and less than a month after the Screen Actors Guild also began striking). The strike hasn’t been without its toll. Earlier this week, Amazon reportedly blamed a questionable choice to re-cancel its A League of Their Own TV series on the strike, and a remake of Fritz Lang's silent film classic Metropolis was shelved because a script wasn’t finished before writers stopped working.

After recently meeting to discuss the possibility of resuming talks about a new labor contract, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are now set to return to the negotiation table this Friday — more than three months into Hollywood’s writers strike.

Variety reports that the AMPTP plans to meet with the WGA this Friday to present a formal response to the guild’s list of proposals for a new labor contract, which includes changes like improved minimum rates, a larger percentage of streaming residuals, and staffing requirements for writers rooms.

The 75th annual Emmy Awards have officially been postponed. Instead of taking place in September, the Television Academy says the ceremony will now air on January 15th, 2024, marking the first time the Emmys have been delayed in over 20 years.

While the Television Academy doesn’t mention why the awards have been delayed, it’s because the show would look rather empty without all the Hollywood writers and actors who are currently on strike. The rules of the strike prevent unionized writers and actors from accepting awards for struck work and also bars them from attending events that promote it.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) met yesterday with representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to confidentially discuss resuming talks, but the meeting ended without a definite agreement to resume negotiations (via Deadline). After the AMPTP withdrew to “consult with their member studios,” the WGA sent an email to its members disclosing the particulars of the discussion, saying studios had leaked details of the meeting to the press.

In the Friday talk, according to WGA’s letter to its members, the AMPTP said it was willing to offer more for “a few writer-specific TV minimums,” and was willing to discuss studio AI use, but wouldn’t consider success-based residuals or preserving writers’ rooms. (Disclosure: Vox Media’s editorial team, which includes The Verge, is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.)

Though it won’t necessarily lead to an immediate end to Hollywood’s ongoing writing strike, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are scheduled to have a meeting this Friday — their first since the strike began three months ago.

Variety reports that WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman has agreed to meet with AMPTP president Carol Lombardini this Friday in response to a direct request from the AMPTP head to discuss next steps that could lead to labor contract negotiations resuming. In a statement shared to its members on Tuesday evening, the WGA confirmed that Lombardini and Stutzman are set to speak and stressed the importance of paying attention to the union’s official channels.

When the Screen Actors Guild began giving independently produced projects clearance to continue production during Hollywood’s two ongoing labor strikes earlier this month, there was a sizable amount of confusion about how the process worked and why the union was doing it, given that it had called for an industrywide work stoppage just days earlier. Now, as more people have begun to question the logic behind the interim agreements being granted, SAG-AFTRA says they’re very much a part of its plan to help its members survive a strike that’s already taken some particularly ugly and telling turns.

On Sunday evening, SAG-AFTRA posted a lengthy statement to its website explaining what its interim agreements are and how they’re being handed out to over 100 different indie projects, like The Chosen, is not at odds with the strike because those productions aren’t directly associated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In addition to stressing that it’s still very much striking against the AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA also insisted that the interim agreements aren’t “waivers” but rather legally binding contracts that adhere to the very same labor terms the union is pushing the studios to agree upon.

The 75th annual Emmy Awards likely won’t take place on September 18th as planned. According to a report from Variety, vendors, producers, and others involved with the ceremony have been notified that the date has been pushed back amid the Hollywood strikes.

While the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced its nominees for the 2023 awards on July 12th, this took place just one day before the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) called a strike. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May, with both unions looking for higher streaming residuals and protections surrounding the use of AI.

General Hospital, the longest-running American soap opera, is turning to scab writers to keep the show going amidst the Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike. One of the show’s writers, Shannon Peace, shared the news on her Instagram account, saying, “Starting next week, the show will be penned exclusively by scab writers which is heartbreaking.”

According to Peace, the show has run through all the scripts that were written before the strike began and has now employed non-union writers in order to keep the show on the air. Typically, people who cross picket lines to perform struck work are met with derision, but Peace acknowledged that the current situation is unique for soap operas. (Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.)

For the first time in over 60 years, the unions representing actors and Hollywood writers are staging a strike at the same time, protesting low pay and studios’ proposals for using artificial intelligence tools in production. More than 175,000 union members are out of work until a deal is made. 

But the ripple effects of the strikes are also reaching another group: influencers and digital content creators who are far from a household name but work in an industry that is, at times, synonymous with fast-track fame. Most of them are non-union influencers, leading to confusion. How can creators keep making money while their peers in Hollywood strike? What rules are they required to follow? What’s their role in all of this?