The Writers Guild of America (WGA), the union of film and television writers in the United States, announced that its members can return to work on Wednesday. Major Hollywood studios proposed a new three-year contract on Saturday to screenwriters who have been on strike since early May, what they described as their final offer. The WGA leadership agreed.
Although the union has declared an end to the strike, WGA members still have until October 9 to cast their votes on the contract, the union said.
It seems that a large part of the writers’ wishes have been met. The studios’ offer includes pay increases over the three years of the contract, better health care and pension plans and assurances about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the business. For example, under the new contract, writers can now choose to use AI when crafting scripts, but the studio cannot request the use of the software.
Screenwriters have been on strike since the beginning of May, partly because they want more royalties and have demanded better rules for using artificial intelligence in creating scripts for films and series. In July, actors from the SAG-AFTRA union also stopped working. The two simultaneous attacks halted most Hollywood productions for several months.
