Striking writers of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and their SAG-AFTRA supporters have dismissed the terms of a revised proposal studios and streaming services in Hollywood have presented Tuesday (August 22), prompting them to continue picketing.
The Hollywood strike is now about to enter its fourth month, crippling productions and other related media operations in the world's entertainment capital, and costing the California economy billions of dollars.
Producers' New Deal
According to Reuters, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has modified its offer to writers and actors to include new details about critical issues like compensation, minimum staffing, residual payments, and curbs on artificial intelligence (AI). The AMPTP added the WGA would get a compounded 13% pay increase over the three-year contract, as well as the assurance that AI-generated written content would not be considered "literary material."
In addition, streaming platforms also offered to provide the WGA with the total number of hours viewed for each made-for-streaming show in confidential quarterly reports.
"We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed," AMPTP President Carol Lombardini said in a statement. "We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution."
WGA on Producers' New Deal: Not Enough
Meanwhile, the WGA received the counterproposal as early as August 11 when producers publicized the talks between them and met with CEOs and executives Bob Iger (Disney), David Zaslav (Warner Bros.), Donna Langley (NBCUniversal Studio Group), and Ted Sarandos (Netflix). However, the WGA claimed to its members the meeting was not to make a deal but to "get [them] to cave" into the producers' offers, prompting union leaders to leave the meeting after 20 minutes, Gizmodo reported.
The union added they explained why they were on strike and why the terms fell short of what they were demanding in the first place.
"[W]e will see you all out on the picket lines and let the companies continue to see what labor power looks like," the union said.
