The writer’s strike has ended, but the actors’ guild and big media companies are still trying to find common ground. Guild members aren’t expecting a speedy resolution even as they get back to the bargaining table, according to Deadline.
“SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume negotiations for a new TV/Theatrical contract on Monday, October 2. Several executives from AMPTP member
companies will be in attendance,” SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, AMPTP, said in a joint statement.
SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are back to talking again after two and a half months without communication. That they’re even meeting is a sign of progress, even if it’s a small one.
“Let’s be cautious, there is some serious ‘wait and see’ here,” a SAG-AFTRA member told Deadline. “Wait and see what they bring new to the table, what they are willing to reconsider. Wait and see if they have really changed their tune or if this is the old AMPTP back in the room.”
SAG-AFTRA went on strike in July after their contract expired. The guild members’ demands include higher pay along with more contributions to pension and healthcare funds as well as recalculated residuals members are paid through streaming service revenue. The union also wants changes for the self-taping audition process and, like writers, protection against the use of AI.
The guild members joined the Hollywood writers on the picket line and brought the entertainment industry to a grinding halt. With both groups on strike, the fate of the 2023-2024 television season looked grim. Studios are beginning to feel the strain of standoff in their bottom lines.
Warner Bros. Discovery was reported to possibly lose up to $500 million in adjusted earnings this year due to the strikes. In August, the entertainment industry had lost 17,000 jobs “reflecting strike activity,” according to an employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Writers might be back to work, but with actors still working out their own deal with studio execs, many productions are still on hold. The momentum from the end of the writers’ strike and the similar concessions between the two organizations could help the actors and studios more quickly find common ground.