WGA strike: Writers Guild and Hollywood studios in ‘final phase’ of negotiations – CNN

CNN
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The striking writers and Hollywood studios are in the “final phase” of negotiations and hope to strike a deal to end the historic work stoppage that has paralyzed the entertainment industry by the end of the weekend, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spent Saturday negotiating for the fourth consecutive day. Should a tentative deal be reached, it would still need to be ratified by rank-and-file members before it could go into effect.

The big four studio bosses — Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, Disney chief Bob Iger, Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos, and NBCUniversal studio chairman Donna Langley — were no longer in the Sherman Oaks room by Saturday afternoon, one person said, signaling nearly all the major issues had been resolved. The person stressed, while not directly in the room, the studio chiefs remained wholly engaged in the process.

Spokespeople for the AMPTP and the WGA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The WGA, which has over 11,000 members, has been on strike since May 2 with the work stoppage reaching its 145th day on Saturday. The strike is within two weeks of the longest strike in the union’s history, which lasted 154 days in 1988. Many productions had halted even before SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on strike July 14.

Negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP have involved disputes over wages, worker protections, and artificial intelligence.

Warner Bros. Discovery is CNN’s parent company.

Even should a tentative deal be reached, it would still need to be ratified by rank-and-file members before it could go into effect. And even after that, without an agreement with SAG-AFTRA, which represents about 160,000 actors, an end to the WGA strike by itself wouldn’t do much to resume halted productions.

The WGA went on strike May 2, with the work stoppage reaching its 145th day on Saturday, putting it within two weeks of the longest strike in the union’s history, which lasted 154 days in 1988. Many productions had halted even before SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on strike July 14.

Both sides have similar sets of demands, including better wages, residuals payments from streaming services for their work, and job protections against the use of artificial intelligence.

Chris Isidore, Michelle Watson and Taylor Romine contributed to this report