Writers' Strike Negotiations In 'Final Phase' With Deal Possible Soon: Reports

HOLLYWOOD, CA —Striking Writers Guild of America members and Hollywood executives may reach a deal by the end of the weekend, as multiple reports indicate they are in the "final phase" of negotiations.

The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spent Saturday negotiating for a fourth straight day, and lawyers are now working out the fine points of contract issues, as CNN and Variety reported.

Multiple sources told Variety that the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the biggest sticking points, with legal representatives for the labor union and management working out the language for the reported three-year contract.

The two sides began discussions Wednesday after a months-long stalemate, to bring an end to what is close to the longest strike in the union's history. The WGA went on strike May 2, with strike reaching its 145th day on Saturday; SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) joined the strike on July 14.

On Thursday, leaders from the biggest studios arrived to take part in the dealmaking session: Disney's Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav, NBCUniversal's Donna Langley and Netflix's Ted Sarandos — a sign that things had finally started moving forward in earnest, Variety reported.

The WGA strike came after contract talks between the union and studios broke down as the previous agreement expired in May.

The disagreement centers around the WGA's push for higher residual pay for streaming content based on a show or movie's performance. Writers under the previous contract had earned a flat fee for such content, a dramatic change from the pre-streaming era: Writers whose shows or movies saw success used to earn huge payouts through syndication and DVD sales.

The WGA also seeks to create industry standards for the number of writers assigned to each show, increase foreign streaming residual payments and implement regulations preventing the use of artificial intelligence for writing work.

The dual WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes have had enormous ripple effects on film and TV production and the broader economy. Production of nearly all scripted projects has ground to halt, while efforts to get talk shows back up and running were met with backlash.

Earlier this month "The Drew Barrymore Show," "Real Time With Bill Maher" and "The Talk" announced controversial plans to resume production as networks struggled with a dearth of content. But producers of those programs quickly backtracked in the face of public pressure against their plans to create new shows without writers.

While only actors and writers have been on strike, the lack of production has meant that many people in Hollywood — from costumers to caterers — have been without a paycheck, too. As of the beginning of August, the strikes were estimated to have cost the California economy $3 billion dollars, according to an estimate from Professor Todd Holmes of Cal State Northridge.