WGA Meets With AMPTP And Lets Members Know A Response Will Be Issued Next Week

For the first time in over 100 days the WGA went back to the negotiating table with the AMPTP. The response? Well, it’s a bit of a haze at the moment.

The representatives for the Writers Guild of America convened on Friday with major studios and streamers in the first formal return to the negotiating table since the strike was called on May 2, the WGA negotiating committee says the union will “evaluate their offer and, after deliberation, go back to them with the WGA’s response next week.”

Led by AMTPTP president Carol Lombardini and WGA West assistant executive director and chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman, it was the first return to negotiations alongside a media black out from both parties to discuss terms. This latest meeting was a response to the WGA’s latest offer that was presented Aug. 4 to the AMPTP.

“Sometimes more progress can be made in negotiations when they are conducted without a blow-by-blow description of the moves on each side and a subsequent public dissection of the meaning of the moves,” wrote the negotiating committee. “That will be our approach, at least for the time being, until there is something of significance to report, or unless management uses the media or industry surrogates to try to influence the narrative.”

• The AMPTP declined to comment.

The major hangup between the studios and guild involves the deal the Directors Guild of America struck earlier this summer. According to the WGA, after an exploratory meeting about resuming talks, the AMPTP doesn’t want to depart too far from that agreement. While this latest meeting has provided the insight that studios are open to acceding to increases on writer-specific TV minimums and signaling that they’re willing to make AI concessions but not budging on core concerns relating to minimum size of writers rooms or success-based residuals. The union called these “fundamental issues” that need to be addressed in the new contract to ensure that “no segment of the membership would be left behind.” 

There’s currently no clear path at this time for both the parties striking a deal that would end the work stoppage from scribes, which has now officially eclipsed the duration 2007 walkout.