After five months, the WGA strike is officially over. That’s great news for the film and television industry writers who have fought for nearly 150 days for a fair deal from the AMPTP. Throughout this battle, the WGA has made it clear that they just wanted support and the money they rightfully deserved from those in charge and it took months for the AMPTP (and lost them a lot of money in the process). Now, the writers have reached a deal that works for them and the fight belongs to SAG-AFTRA as their strike continues.
The summary of what was negotiated was published on the WGA’s website and one of the biggest wins comes from the conversation about AI. One of the scariest parts of this whole fight was the AMPTP’s refusal to budge on the AI front. But in the summary, it’s clear that the WGA won on that front, as the new agreement states: “AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.”
This fight has been a long one for the members of the WGA and while SAG-AFTRA joining them was a push they needed, it still wasn’t easy for them. When you look at what the WGA was asking laid out, it wasn’t even that much, just basic changes to what was a simple change in how we consume media. After all this time, the AMPTP was being greedy in how they refused to adjust to streaming culture. To see the WGA win after all this time shows that this fight, however long it took, was worth it for the future of Hollywood, and specifically for writers and how the WGA will function.
Hollywood is slowly coming back
SAG-AFTRA is still striking currently and while that means that our favorite shows and movies aren’t back to filming, writers can start working on projects again. The strike ended for the WGA at 12:01 AM PDT on September 27th. This marked 148 days of the strike. For nearly 150 days, the writers were on the picket lines fighting for fare wages and protecting themselves because the AMPTP wanted more money for themselves and to work their writers to the bone.
Because the WGA was strong and fought back against them, there is now a deal that will protect writers in the future and look out for them with streaming, writers’ rooms, and more. Hopefully this deal helps the AMPTP meet with SAG-AFTRA to come up with a deal sooner rather than later to help actors get the deals they deserve too. Not because we need more shows to watch but because there are people without jobs who are struggling and they deserve the chance to go back to the work they love.
Thank you to the WGA members who fought hard for a deal that would protect those writers who bare their souls for the art we know and love. Hopefully this deal shows the AMPTP what SAG-AFTRA also deserves.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the work being covered here wouldn’t exist.
(featured image: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
