The third consecutive day of negotiations between the striking Writers Guild of America and studio representatives failed Friday to result in an agreement but management-side insiders did claim that progress was being made, according to a published report.
Negotiators made “lots of progress and (engaged in) good faith but they need more time,” a management-side source told The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone’s fully engaged but (it’s) unclear what exact plans are.”
The two sides will meet again Saturday, the WGA’s negotiating committee said in a note to members
There was no immediate comment from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is handling negotiations for studios.
Friday’s meeting began at 11 a.m. and concluded by 8:45 p.m., The Hollywood Reporter reported, according to sources it did not name.
The so-called “Gang of Four” major studio bosses — Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Bob Iger, Universal’s Donna Langley and Warner Bros/Discovery’s David Zaslav, were present at the negotiations for the third consecutive day, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Representatives from the WGA and AMPTP met Wednesday for the first time since mid-August, the met again Thursday.
Writers, who went on strike May 2, were joined on the picket line in July by the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union. There have been no known contract talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA since that strike began.
Both unions are pushing for protections against the use of artificial intelligence and improvements in salary, particularly on successful streaming programs.
With negotiations seemingly stalled earlier this month, the WGA negotiating team issued a statement suggesting that some traditional Hollywood studios should break ranks with the AMPTP and reach a deal directly with the writers’ union. The WGA suggested it has spoken with some studio executives who believe a deal could be quickly struck.
“So, while the intransigence of the AMPTP structure is impeding progress, these behind-the-scenes conversations demonstrate there is a fair deal to be made that addresses our issues,” according to the WGA negotiating team. “… We have made it clear that we will negotiate with one or more of the major studios, outside the confines of the AMPTP, to establish the new WGA deal.
“There is no requirement that the companies negotiate through the AMPTP. So, if the economic destabilization of their own companies isn’t enough to cause a studio or two or three to either assert their own self-interest inside the AMPTP, or to break away from the broken AMPTP model, perhaps Wall Street will finally make them do it.”
The AMPTP, however, issued a statement of its own saying all of its members are committed to working within the alliance to reach a deal for all studios.
“The AMPTP member companies are aligned and are negotiating together to reach a resolution,” a statement from the alliance said. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false.
“Every member company of the AMPTP wants a fair deal for writers and actors and an end to the strikes, which are affecting not only our writer and actor colleagues, but also thousands of others across the industry. That is why the AMPTP has repeatedly put forward offers that address major priorities of the WGA, including a last round of offers on Aug. 17th and 18th.”