The US Writers Guild (WGA) resumed negotiations to sign a new collective bargaining agreement with Hollywood Studios (AMPTP) on Wednesday, ending a strike that has paralyzed the US entertainment industry for some time.
The meeting between the parties took place in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood (Los Angeles, California) and brought together executives such as Bob Iger of Disney ; Ted Sarandos of Netflix ; Donna Langley of NBCUniversal ; and David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, along with AMPTP president Carol Lombardini and WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman, according to the trade media.
Senior officials of the companies represented by AMPTP did not participate in the first negotiations, but the urgency to resolve the conflict led to their more active participation in the discussions.
Sources close to the American portal Deadline stated that the talks that took place this Wednesday were “very encouraging” and that they had made “great progress”, but so far no organization has made an official statement.
The WGA and AMPTP are expected to meet again this Thursday to try to resolve their differences .
The negotiations will continue this Thursday as well
The Hollywood Reporter says that the negotiations will continue this Thursday in a new meeting, since the AMPTP met with the leaders of the WGA last August 21 to reach a fair agreement.
As reported, the writers’ union has been on strike since the beginning of May, after the term of the last contract that the union had with the various production companies had expired. The strike, in parallel with that of the actor, which took place a few weeks later, is aimed at putting pressure on companies to treat screenwriters and screenwriters fairly, as well as a number of protective measures, among which regulation in the face of the emergence of artificial intelligence. as a method of replacing writers.