Source says studios and striking writers are ending ‘marathon session’ of negotiations without a deal
The striking writers and bosses of the four major Hollywood studios concluded a more than 10-hour “marathon session” of negotiations on Thursday night without reaching an agreement, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. The person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said further progress was made in negotiations on Thursday, the second consecutive day of intense talks between the two sides, toward an agreement to end of the historic work stoppage in Hollywood has not yet been signed. In an email to members, the Writers Guild of America bargaining committee said the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will meet again on Friday. “Your bargaining committee appreciates all the messages of solidarity and support we have received over the past few days, and ask as many of you as possible to stand on the picket lines tomorrow,” the email said. The AMPTP studio bosses – Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav, Disney boss Bob Iger, Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal Studio chairman Donna Langley – resumed negotiations with the WGA on Wednesday. After the meeting, both sides issued a rare joint statement indicating that their talks would continue the next day. The fact that the two sides – which have at times rebuked each other over comments to the media – issued a joint statement signaled a possible sign of progress. Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN. The WGA went on strike on May 2, with the work stoppage reaching its 143rd day on Thursday, just two weeks after the longest strike in the union’s history, which lasted 154 days in 1988. Many productions had stopped even before SAG-AFTRA joined the striking WGA on July 14. Both sides have similar demands, including better wages, residual payments from streaming services for their work and job protections against the use of artificial intelligence. -Chris from CNN Isidore contributed to this report
The striking writers and heads of the four major Hollywood studios concluded a “marathon session” of negotiations that lasted more than 10 hours on Thursday night without reaching an agreement, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
The person, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, said further progress was made but an agreement was reached in negotiations on Thursday, the second straight day of intensive talks between the two sides The historic work stoppage in Hollywood is not yet over.
In an email to members, the Writers Guild of America bargaining committee said the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will meet again on Friday.
“Your bargaining committee appreciates all the messages of solidarity and support we have received over the past few days and asks as many of you as possible to stand on the picket lines tomorrow,” the email said.
The AMPTP studio bosses – Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav, Disney boss Bob Iger, Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal studio chairwoman Donna Langley – resumed negotiations with the WGA on Wednesday. After the meeting, both sides issued a rare joint statement noting that their talks would continue the next day.
The fact that the two sides – which have at times rebuked each other over comments made to the media – issued a joint statement was a possible sign of progress.
Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN.
The WGA went on strike on May 2, with the work stoppage reaching its 143rd day on Thursday, just two weeks after the longest strike in the union’s history, which lasted 154 days in 1988. Many productions had already been halted before SAG-AFTRA joined the union’s WGA strike on July 14.
Both sides have similar demands, including better wages, residual payments from streaming services for their work and job protections from the use of artificial intelligence.
— CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report
