On Wednesday as well, the WGA and AMPTP will resume their discussions. The two sides were scheduling more meetings during their previously scheduled two-week hiatus as the deadline for Friday drew near. Earlier this week, the Guild called for a vote on authorizing a strike, claiming the studios had “failed to respond meaningfully to basic economic challenges in any of the WGA’s primary job areas” despite their acknowledgement that they had taken “modest steps.” Settlement.
According to Deadline, there is a proposal for the two parties to meet possibly on Tuesday.
This is a significant development in the negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP because it was originally proposed that after a two-week break beginning at the end of today, the original notion would be put back on the table for eight days beginning on April 17. Nonetheless, the source told Deadline that there appears to be a desire to carry on talks in some way until the WGA and AMPTP have reached some common ground.
According to a source, it seems the two sides are more closely aligned than anticipated on a number of crucial issues, which means the two sides will gain more traction than anticipated.
Yet, there are hopes that the WGA would continue to ask its members to approve a strike in the upcoming days through a series of “roadshows,” as stated by Deadline.
Some of this has been credited to the direction of Ellen Stutzman, the WGAW assistant executive director who abruptly took over for David Young on February 28 when he went on medical leave.
Stutzman has been chosen for his participation in negotiations in addition to serving as the chairman of the Guild’s 25-person negotiating committee. There is a different atmosphere in the room with Ellen in charge, according to a WGA member. That involves being firm, courteous, and persistent, but also trying to avoid picking fights, she added.
Another well-connected Guild member commended Stutzman and the way she assembled the WGA bargaining team, saying, “It’s less confrontational with Ellen.” “Leverage is vital, but I don’t think anyone in their right mind would desire a strike.”
Sources claim that the second week of negotiations was more important than the first.
One insider referred to the first week as “tough” as both sides danced around one another during the slow beginning. Initial studio sources criticized the WGA’s strategy as being “limited” and expressed dissatisfaction that the WGA dodged some queries regarding their suggestions. The WGA staff was referred to as “speechers, not propositions” by one executive. The studio officials were “simply a wall, neither attacking, nor defensive,” according to a scribe who was present at the meeting from the other side of the table.
Less than 10 hours were reportedly spent in cooperative negotiations between the two parties over their ten days of meetings at AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks offices. The majority of the remaining time was spent in caucuses and other secret spaces coming up with responses to the other side’s ideas.
This weekend’s one presentation seems to have changed the atmosphere, with prospects for finding some common ground higher than ever.
After considering all of the above and the chance that the strike power may still be granted, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told Deadline that “I’m 95% convinced the strike will happen; everyone believes it at this moment.” nonetheless, coming.
It appears that residual and mini-room streaming are still the two key problems for writers.
According to the writers, the studio has utilized streaming to lower writer remuneration, sever the lines between writing and production, and create generally “worse” working circumstances for the series. He pointed out that despite higher expenditures, the average writer-compensation producer’s has decreased and that more authors are working at least “regardless of experience,” frequently for fewer weeks. He claims that this has been made worse by the mini-room fad, particularly for aspiring authors.
Yet, the studio also claims that writers have negotiated a 46% rise in high-budget streaming residuals from their prior contracts for 2020, some of which haven’t yet been deposited into their bank accounts due to timing. They also emphasize that they are negotiating for the lowest possible price and that the majority of authors charge more than this. On a more fundamental level, the studios claim that the worsening financial picture is forcing them to reduce spending and lay off employees.
A studio insider remarked, “I know we don’t talk about the recession, but I don’t think there’s really been enough attention on that.” Take Warner Bros. Discovery’s $2.1 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 as an illustration.
For the time being, it will be crucial to watch how and when the two parties resume talks, most likely closer to Passover. Two weeks prior to the WGA’s contract with AMPTP expiring, on April 17, the original schedule called for a return to the table.
The WGA is anticipated to ask its members to approve a strike during those two weeks. The WGA highlighted in January that 96.3% of voters approved of authorizing a writers’ strike when it was previously put to a vote in 2017. It stated that writers had “shown throughout the WGA’s history that they could win new industry standards through collective action.”
Sources in the room claimed that the vote was intended to “instill fear” in AMPTP, even though the studio well anticipated the action.
Before the negotiations started, another person remarked, “I genuinely hope that card would be played. It’s just become common practice in their toolkit and in conversations, so I’m not at all surprised.
It’s “like they brought their divorce lawyer to the wedding,” as one person put it.
It will be fascinating to see if an agreement can be made as opposed to a strike, which is now obviously more of a possibility.