Striking writers have been in consistent talks with studios for over a week

[Karlston]

The WGA resumed talks this month with studios and has now been bargaining for over a week, and says talks are continuing next week.

 

The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) wrote in an update yesterday that bargaining talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are ongoing after the two resumed negotiations just over a week ago (via Deadline). The WGA also says the talks will continue next week.

 

The guild and movie studios re-started negotiations after meeting earlier this month for the first time since the strike began over three months ago (and less than a month after the Screen Actors Guild also began striking). The strike hasn’t been without its toll. Earlier this week, Amazon reportedly blamed a questionable choice to re-cancel its A League of Their Own TV series on the strike, and a remake of Fritz Lang's silent film classic Metropolis was shelved because a script wasn’t finished before writers stopped working.

 

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly pressured studios, along with 11 other studio big wigs, to make a deal with the guild, resulting in an offer that reportedly included ensuring human beings would not be replaced by artificial intelligence for screenplay credits; sharing viewership data for streaming services so writers can be in the loop; salary increases closer to what the WGA is asking; and writer “mini-rooms.”

 

Writers are also seeking better access to healthcare and improved residuals, among other changes. In yesterday’s update, the WGA encouraged its members to “be skeptical of rumors from third parties,” saying it would communicate significant developments as they happen.

 

(Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.)

 

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