Hollywood Writers Strike Is Over After Nearly 5 Months as New Deal Reached

Placards are gathered together at the close of a picket by members of The Writers Guild of America outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif., on May 2, 2023. AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File

The nearly five-month Hollywood writers strike was declared over on Sept. 26 after board members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) approved a new contract with studios.

The tentative deal came after union bosses said earlier this week that their roughly 11,500 writers had reached an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) following months of back-and-forth negotiations over improved salary, residuals for streaming programs, and protections against the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) in the film industry.

In a statement, union leaders said the Negotiating Committee, the WGA West (WGAW) Board, and the WGA East (WGAE) Council all voted unanimously to recommend the “three-year minimum basic agreement” on Sept. 26. The deal still needs to be ratified by the union’s members.

“Eligible voters will be able to vote from October 2nd through October 9th, and will receive ballot and ratification materials when the vote opens,” union leaders said.

Union leaders also voted unanimously to authorize its members to return to work, according to the statement.

“The WGAW Board and WGAE Council also voted to lift the restraining order and end the strike as of 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET on Wednesday, September 27th,” the WGA wrote. “This allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.”

Movie Productions Halted

The announcement is welcome relief to industry leaders following a 148-day work stoppage that effectively paralyzed productions across the industry, affecting everything from streaming services to movie production.

WGAW has been on strike since May 2, while another union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents more than 160,000 actors, began striking on July 14.

Under the three-year contract (pdf), WGA members’ minimum pay will increase by 5 percent immediately, then by another 4 percent in May 2024 and another 3.5 percent in May 2025, while the Health Fund contributions on reportable earnings will also increase by a half percentage point, to 12 percent, in the second year of the agreement.

As for residuals, union members will receive a “bonus equal to 50 percent of the fixed domestic and foreign residual” if the show or film is “viewed by 20 percent or more of the service’s domestic subscribers in the first 90 days of release or the first 90 days of any subsequent exhibition year.”

That bonus structure affects projects released on or after Jan. 1, 2024.

Members of the Writers Guild of America picket outside Fox Studios in Los Angeles on May 2, 2023. Ashley Landis/AP Photo

‘Exceptional’ Deal

Elsewhere, the deal establishes regulations for the use of AI, including banning the technology from being used to write or rewrite literary material and prohibiting studios from requiring writers to use it. Union members can, however, choose to use AI when performing writing services if the company consents.

The new contract, which also includes numerous other benefits and employment protections, is set to expire in May 2026 and is valued at about $233 million, according to the WGA, far more than the $86 million that the AMPTP had offered.

On Sept. 24, the WGA announced that it had reached a tentative minimum basic agreement with the AMPTP, calling the deal “exceptional” with “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

“What we have won in this contract—most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd—is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” the union stated.

“It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”

Separately, WGAW President Meredith Stiehm told Deadline: “This strike was way too long, because the companies took so long to get serious. I feel sad and pained that it took this long because when we got serious, we got it done in a reasonable amount of time. So much was wasted and lost by just not acting earlier.”

So far, the AMPTP has yet to publish a detailed statement regarding the new agreement but acknowledged this week that a deal had been reached.