The Writers Strike Is Finally Over

After being on strike since May 2nd, Hollywood writers have a contract to return to work.

Following days of negotiations that were reportedly called “productive“—where the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers even released a surprising joint statement on the progress of talks—the strike has officially ended in a new deal.

The dispute, which has lasted more than 140 days, has focused on issues such as pay, the size of writers’ rooms, AI and royalties/residuals, with the AMPTP and the WGA frequently at odds and jostling in the media. However, the recent talks, which included studio heads such as Disney CEO Bob Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav joining the bargaining table, had both sides looking to make progress.

In the new (tentative) deal, the contract between the WGA and the entertainment companies ends the 146-day shutdown. Guild members still need to vote to accept the deal, that does include most of the demands—including increased royalty payments for streaming content, and protections against AI. Final details will not be released for several days.

But that doesn’t mean all of Hollywood is back to work. The Screen Actors Guild of America joined the WGA on the picket line in July, and those negotiations are still ongoing.

Talks resumed Wednesday between the WGA and the studios following nearly a month of silence. Conversations had been ongoing since then.

How we got here

Following Hollywood’s strikes, the entertainment industry screeched to a halt, with actors and writers refraining from promoting their work and projects continually being pushed. Several movies were moved to 2024 and major productions, including the Emmys, were delayed for months.

The lack of new scripted projects also wreaked havoc on fall TV schedules, with several networks making last-minute changes, leaning on reality programming and repackaging old shows, such as Yellowstone, like they’re new by giving them broadcast debuts. Meanwhile, the programs that tried to come back without writers, such as Bill Maher’s and Drew Barrymore’s talk shows, were ultimately delayed again after receiving the ire of picketers and backlash online.

Addressing ads

The overall impact on advertising also remains to be seen.