Amid Hollywood strike, protesting writers to evaluate counter proposal from studios

On Friday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the association representing Hollywood writers, revealed that it had been presented with a counter proposal from American studios. This is being seen as an indicator of advancement in the ongoing strike, which has now persisted for over 100 days.

Outlook International Desk

Updated on: 12 August 2023 9:07 pm

Hollywood writer’s strike

The Hollywood writers' group, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), announced on Friday that it had received a counterproposal from the American studios. This development is being viewed as a sign of progression in the continuing strike, which has lasted more than 100 days now. They said that they would respond next week "after deliberation" on the offer.

The WGA expressed its desire to thoroughly evaluate the proposal and respond in the upcoming week in response to the offer made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The Alliance engages in negotiations on behalf of well-known corporations including Netflix and Walt Disney. The discussions, which took place on August 4th, covered the concerns and goals of each party for resuming negotiations. The WGA's subsequent criticism of the studios, however, raised the possibility that there may have been difficulties throughout the negotiations.

Following a standoff between the WGA and major studios, the Hollywood writers' strike began on May 2nd. The impasse was caused by problems with compensation, making sure there were always enough authors in the staff rooms, and dealing with residual payments in the age of streaming. Production of scripted television episodes and films was halted as a result of the stalemate, which had an impact on many areas of the entertainment business.
Notably, on July 14th, the Screen performers Guild joined the walkout, emphasizing on issues of compensation and AI. This unusual demonstration of both unions striking at once has happened for the first time since 1960.

The strike's impact extended to the rescheduling of the Emmys, a prestigious ceremony that celebrates television excellence. Initially scheduled for September18th, the dazzling event had to be deferred due to the ongoing strikes by WGA and SAG-AFTRA. The Television Academy and Fox have jointly declared that the 75th annual awards ceremony is now slated to occur on January 15th, 2024. This is the first time the Emmy Awards have been postponed since 9/11.

The strike involving approximately 11,500 writers has resulted in the suspension of new episodes for late-night shows, significant disruptions in the production of content for the upcoming fall TV season, and a complete halt in the progress of high-budget movie projects.