The Writers Guild of America reached a tentative four-year contract agreement with the major studios Saturday, one year longer than the standard three-year deal, both sides announced.
“Crucially, it protects our health plan and puts it on a sustainable path, with increased company contributions across many areas and long-needed increases to health contribution caps,” the WGA Negotiating Committee reported in a statement to members. “The new contract also builds on gains from 2023 and helps address free work challenges.”
The agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will still have to be voted on by the full WGA membership.
“We look forward to building on this progress as we continue working toward agreements that support long-term industry stability,” the AMPTP said in a statement Saturday night.
The agreement would include health plan/pension increases, bumps for Subscription Video on Demand, protection to police licensing for AI training and more, according to entertainment journalist Matt Belloni.
“Obviously this is a potential huge relief for Hollywood in general given WGA is most aggressive of major guilds. Will be interesting if SAG and DGA also move to 4-year deals,” Belloni wrote on X, referring to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Directors Guild of America.
The negotiating committee was recommending the WGAW Board and WGAE Council approve sending the pact to members for a ratification vote later this month.
The current contracts for those unions are both due to expire on June 30.
In 2023, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA both staged prolonged strikes that caused significant economic impact to the entertainment industry and related businesses before both unions reached three-year contract agreements with the AMPTP.