After 148 days, Hollywood writers have officially ended their strike!
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted to end the protest after reaching an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the union which represents major studios such as Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony Apple, Amazon and Warner Bros.
It means as of Wednesday, 27 September, 2023, 11,500 writers will be able to resume creating all the content we love! (Looking at you Stranger Things, Wednesday, The Last of Us, The Summer I Turned Pretty and more!)
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Since May 2, they’d been asking for better pay and residuals in light of a growing demand for new content by streaming services. They had also shared their concerns about their work being exploited through Artificial Intelligence (AI).
According to the WGA, the new agreement is “exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”
It will see writers receive pay increases of 5%, 4% and 3.5% over the course of a three-year contract, a contribution of at least 12% to their health funds by their employers, “viewership-based residuals” which will mean more pay for writers who create content that performs well and transparency when it comes to those viewership numbers.
Plus, the agreement provides guidelines for the use of AI providing writers more protections and the choice to use AI for their work, if they wish.
And while the agreement has been unanimously accepted by the Writers Guild, members will still need to vote on the agreement next week – judging by the reactions so far on social media, that shouldn’t be a problem!
Gary Scott Thompson who is behind The Fast and The Furious films as well as TV series, Las Vegas and has taken part in three writers strikes during his career posted on X:
“I will be blunt, this is the first time in my career that I read our “latest contract” and didn’t say, “we got f***ed again.” Congratulations #WGA.”
The writers for hit Netflix series Stranger Things are already on deck. Posting to X, they shared an image with the words, “We’re back.”
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) September 27, 2023
As for Hollywood actors part of the SAG-AFTRA union, they are still striking.
(Feature Image Credit: rblfmr/Shutterstock.com)
