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By Irina Ivanova
/ MoneyWatch
A tentative deal between striking writers and major Hollywood studios could soon end a labor dispute that, along with an ongoing work stoppage by actors, has paralyzed the entertainment industry.
The first TV and film writers’ strike in 15 years, involving 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), has lasted nearly 150 days and halted productions around the U.S. If it is finalized, the union’s agreement announced Sunday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) could see at least some shows resume over the next few weeks.
The WGA’s council must first approve the agreement with the AMPTP, after which it will go to a vote by the union’s full membership.
Unscripted day- an late-night talk shows would likely be among the first to programs to return. “The Late Show” on CBS, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC, “The Tonight Show” on NBC, “Late Night” on NBC and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” stopped production after the WGA strike kicked off in May.
Not all late-night shows went dark during the strike. Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” with Greg Gutfeld continued airing new episodes. Gutfeld and his writing team are not WGA members, Deadline reported.
Even if the WGA proposal is finalized, it likely will take longer for scripted film and TV shows to resume because of the ongoing strike by perfomers who belong to SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, and because such productions work on longer timelines than late-night TV.
With the writers walkout long anticipated, many studios rushed to finish projects and create a backlog to have enough content for the short term. Netflix has said it could turn to overseas series to fill some of the void during a strike.
“We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced,” David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said last month.
Paramount Pictures, one of the studios involved in the negotiations, and CBS News are both part of Paramount Global. Also, some CBS News staff are SAG-AFTRA or Writers Guild members, but their contracts are not affected by the strikes.
First published on May 2, 2023 / 2:40 PM
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