Writers picket outside Netflix on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California during the Writers Guild of America strike on May 2, 2023.
Frederic J. Brown | afp | Getty’s paintings
Hollywood producers have reached a tentative agreement with film and tv directors, but that does not mean we must always expect an abrupt end to the writers’ strike or talks with the actors’ union.
On Sunday, the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers tentatively agreed to a three-year contract that can give the 19,000-strong union higher wages and advantages, a rise in global streaming residuals, and protection against the use of artificial intelligence.
The DGA contract expires on June 30. The guild will communicate the proposal to its members on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America begins its second month of strike. Similarly, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are on the verge of allowing a possible strike if negotiations fail. Those talks will start on Wednesday.
The WGA has been on strike since May 2, shutting down dozens of television and film productions as talks with producers stalled.
Already Netflix postponed the start of production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Warner Bros. Discovery The ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Night’ has closed its writers’ room and Disney and Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” and “Blade” halted production.
During the last writers’ strike in 2007 and 2008, which lasted 100 days, the studio’s take care of the DGA prompted the writers to return to the negotiating table. This time, nonetheless, that is probably not the case.
“We congratulate the DGA negotiating committee on the deal they’re recommending to the National Council for approval after which more likely to be sent to their members for ratification,” the WGA negotiating committee wrote in a Sunday memo to members.
The committee said it could not comment on the points of the recent DGA deal and noted that its bargaining positions remain the same.
“We sent an email last week that AMPTP’s divide and conquer strategy wouldn’t work this time,” the memo reads. “AMPTP is not going to give you the option to barter a writers take care of anyone but us.”
The committee also said it stood in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA as they conclude a vote to authorize a strike on Monday.
SAG-AFTRA officials didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment.
The WGA memo echoes comments by WGA negotiator Chris Keyser on Friday when he provided a public update after a month of strike motion via YouTube.
“Any deal that brings this city back to work goes straight through the WGA and there isn’t any way around it,” he said.
Keyser also expressed that the WGA strike had already “been very effective in inflicting pain on corporations”, noting that the work stoppage coupled with public pickets showed the guild’s determination to get “the contract we deserve”.
AI fight
In the DGA agreement, the directors secured pay increases from 5% in the first 12 months, a rise in streaming leftovers and a guarantee that artificial intelligence is not going to give you the option to exchange the duties performed by members.
Artificial intelligence has been a significant concern for the guild of writers and actors alike, who see their jobs as particularly vulnerable to this recent technology.
Each the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are in search of protection against the use of AI of their negotiations, along with compensation increases for streaming content. The WGA can also be in search of minimum staff levels for television writers’ rooms and more competitive minimum wages for jobs.
The WGA is less nervous about being replaced by AI systems and more about production corporations using these technological tools to lower writers’ salaries.
SAG-AFTRA has acknowledged that AI technology can profit the industry, but desires to be sure that any use of AI to recreate an actor or create a recent show is completed with the actor’s permission and for a fee. Guild has similar barriers in relation to capturing computer-generated images.
Already, some performers, similar to James Earl Jones, have agreed to have their voices cloned for use after their deaths. Jones, 91, famously voiced Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and sought to finish the role. Jones was compensated and the technology was used to bring Vader’s iconic voice to the Disney+ movie Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Actors Guild has also been open about negotiating for the good thing about all its members, not only big stars. Medical insurance, compensation and residual premiums are paramount to tens of 1000’s of working actors.
SAG-AFTRA’s strike authorization vote ends Monday at 8 p.m. EST.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the Alliance of Film and Television Producers.