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The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Friday night that the studios remain aligned, and pushed the Writers Guild of America to respond to its latest offer.
AMPTP was responding to the WGA’s call earlier today for one or more of its member companies to separate from the alliance and negotiate a separate deal. The WGA suggested that some legacy studios might be willing to meet the writers’ requirements.
“AMPTP member companies are allied and negotiating together to reach a solution,” the studio group said. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
The WGA strike began 130 days ago, and the two sides have not met in the negotiating room for three weeks. Each side emphasized that it was up to the other to respond.
Friday night’s verbal exchanges between workers and management came after a tense week in Hollywood following the Labor Day weekend. Many people preoccupied with the downtime and its ripple effects view the end of summer as a psychological milestone.
There has also been an unmistakably growing sense of urgency among hundreds of series creators, writers and producers communicating non-stop via WhatsApp and other private channels. There is no doubt that WGA leaders — particularly negotiating committee co-chairs Chris Keyser and David Goodman — have fielded inquiries from members looking for insight into the status of the contract talks. Sources familiar with the communication confirm that there have been no ultimatums or threats of disengagement from the impressive solidarity the WGA West and WGA East have organized since the strike began on May 2. But with Labor Day at the end of summer, industry insiders looking at the calendar this week and I realized the window for completing this year’s complex negotiations was narrowing as the fall and winter holidays approached.
Meanwhile, leaders and executives within AMPTP member companies are feeling increasing pressure as persistent production delays derail long-term plans for the 2023 and 2024 release schedule. With executives reconvening this week after the final moments of summer, the prospect of losing every opportunity to remake a TV series or movie before the year is out is acute. By Friday, chatter was building in the industry about the prospects of a major Hollywood player breaking away from AMPTP for a separate deal with the WGA as the business continues to stall.
In its statement earlier in the day, the WGA said that AMPTP refused to retract its August 11 bid. AMPTP said the union has yet to respond on several issues, and said the union has “remained firm” in its demand for mandatory minimum staffing for television programming.
“The WGA has achieved significant gains for its members during this negotiation process and has the ability to move these negotiations forward by responding to the latest AMPTP submissions on key issues,” the Studio Alliance said.
The AMPTP also set a detailed timetable for negotiations. The latest entry indicates that on August 18, the WGA indicated that it would respond the following week, but has not yet done so.
On August 22, senior union leaders met with four of the studio’s top leaders: Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, and Warner Bros.’s David Zaslav. Discovery, and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley. The union later described the meeting as a two-hour “lecture” and urged them to accept the offer on the table.
Here’s the full AMPTP manifest:
AMPTP member companies are allied and negotiate together to reach a solution. Any suggestion to the contrary is false.
Every AMPTP member company wants a fair deal for writers and actors and an end to strikes, which affect not only our fellow writers and actors, but also thousands of others throughout the industry.
This is why AMPTP has repeatedly put out presentations addressing key priorities for the WGA, including the last round of presentations on August 17-18. [See below] We are close on many issues, and one of them is artificial intelligence. Our AI proposal has made clear guarantees that the use of AI will not affect writers’ remuneration, credit or separate rights. We have asked the WGA to identify any remaining gaps in the AI offering and they have not responded.
On the important topic of mandatory staffing, the WGA has remained firm in its original position, except for one modest change in its position on staffing in development rooms.
The WGA has made significant gains for its members during this negotiation process and has the ability to move these negotiations forward by responding to AMPTP’s latest submissions on key issues.
AMPTP, including all of its member companies, remains anxious to find a solution.
Proposal schedule
April 14, 2023: AMPTP submits to the WGA its comprehensive package proposal, a 31-page document.
April 26, 2023: AMPTP submitted to the WGA its revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 40-page document.
April 30, 2023: AMPTP submitted to the WGA its Second Revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 41-page document that addressed all items under negotiations.
August 11, 2023: AMPTP submitted to the WGA its Third Revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 69-page document that addressed all items under negotiations.
August 15, 2023: The WGA responds with a 4-page document with limited moves in a few regions.
August 16, 2023: The WGA provides details of its revised written proposal on artificial intelligence
August 17, 2023: AMPTP submitted to the WGA a revised counterproposal to AI, which focused on the key concerns expressed by the WGA during the debate the previous day.
August 18, 2023: AMPTP offers further concessions to WGA’s August 15 response. The WGA indicated that it would respond the following week. AMPTP has not heard from the syndicate since that time.
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