Resolution Within Reach or Pipe Dream? WGA Meets with Producers For Final Meeting

The WGA strike could end on Thursday, September 21, after a long 100 days, provided the writers and producers come to an agreement.

The Writers Guild of America has been on strike for over a hundred days over the lack of protections afforded to writers from Hollywood studios with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and the threats that it poses to writers’ jobs in the current environment. The writers’ strike has addressed numerous issues, such as the one mentioned before, and including ones as basic as fair pay.

However, for many months now, it hasn’t appeared as though the two parties would come to any kind of agreement. That might just change.

WGA Strike Could End on Thursday, September 21

Journalist David Faber took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share that the striking writers and producers are near agreement to end the WGA strike. The two parties met on Wednesday, September 20, and are hopeful that a deal will be finalized tomorrow.

However, people close to the negotiations have warned that if the deal tomorrow falls through, the strike will go on through the end of the year. If, in fact, the strike does go on through the end of the year, that would make this the longest strike in the guild’s history.

The record for this was previously held by the guild’s 1988 strike, which was 154 days long.

After face to face meeting today, writers and producers near agreement to end WGA strike. Met today and hope to finalize deal tomorrow, according to people close to the negotiations, who, while optimistic, warn that without deal tomorrow strike likely continues through year end.

— David Faber (@davidfaber) September 21, 2023

What Has Been Going On With the WGA Strike 2023?

The WGA—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on strike on May 2, 2023, over an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). On July 14, 2023, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) joined them, and the strike combined to become the SAG-AFTRA strike as part of a series of larger labor disputes in Hollywood.

Many studios have spoken out against the strike and tried strong-arming the writers and producers into giving in; one famously even said they would “starve” artists out. Disney CEO Bob Iger has also spoken out against the strike, and after facing enormous amounts of backlash for the same, tried ameliorating the situation.

It bears mentioning that this isn’t the first time we have wondered whether the WGA strike could end. There was a brief moment in August where some wondered if the new contract proposed by the studios—Walt Disney Studios and the Walt Disney Company included—would be fair and put an end to the proceedings.

Of course, it goes without saying that artists rejected that contract, and the strike has continued.

As reported by CNBC, “The WGA has been pushing for new rules that would require studios to staff TV shows with a certain number of writers  [in the writers’ room] for a certain period. The writers are also seeking compensation throughout the process of preproduction, production and postproduction.”

At the moment, Hollywood writers are expected to work without compensation when it comes to revisions or coming up with new material.