Hollywood screenwriters are officially ending their five-month strike. According to media reports, the union leaders have agreed to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) said that writers could work freely from midnight local time, while a vote on the new three-year contract with Hollywood studios is scheduled to take place in early October. According to Variety, the deal is expected to be easily accepted by “strike-weary members.” The new contract apparently includes, among other things, concessions on pay and the use of artificial intelligence.
The negotiators from the WGA and an association of studios, streaming services and production companies reached the preliminary agreement on Sunday after several days of talks.
According to US media reports, observers assume that late-night shows, among other things, will soon go back on the air. However, most television and film productions are not yet able to restart as the actors’ strike is still ongoing and labor disputes have already impacted production plans for the coming months.
Recently it was also said that the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA could expand its strike from the film business to the computer game industry. On Monday, members of SAG-AFTRA voted by a majority of 98.32 percent to authorize a strike against the video game industry. According to SAG-AFTRA, 27.47 percent of the union voted.
The vote does not mean that there will be a strike. However, it gives employee representatives the opportunity to use the means of a work stoppage during the ongoing negotiations on a new agreement for interactive media.
