The Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement Sunday night.
While the union has not publicly announced the deal’s details, they wrote in an email to union members, “And though we are eager to share the details of what has been achieved with you, we cannot do that until the last “i” is dotted. To do so would complicate our ability to finish the job.”
They did, however, say that “this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”
Puck News founder Matt Belloni told L.A. Morning News’ Vicky Moore and Mike Simpson that some of the biggest issues at the forefront of the writers’ strike were streaming residuals and the use of AI.
When it comes to streaming residuals, Belloni said the guild advocated for “a success metric in residuals for streaming.”
“…[This] means that the compensation will be tied to how well the show does on a streaming service, and that's a big deal because previously shows that were successful did not necessarily pay you more than shows that were not successful,” he said. “And that's something the writers really wanted, but we still don't know how much access the writers are gonna get to the actual data that the streamers are hoarding right now.”
As for as the use of artificial intelligence, Belloni said the studios were able to score a win there.
“The studios did get the ability to experiment with AI,” he said. “They wanted to essentially kick the can to the next negotiation, figure out what this AI thing is going to be, and then decide how they want to approach it with their talent partners. And the guild got protections against being exploited during that period.
When it comes to what consumers get out of this, Belloni said they may get fewer shows.
“If shows are more expensive to make, then perhaps the studios and streamers will make less of them,” he said. “ But the Guilds’ would tell you in order to have a robust and thriving creative community that produces the kind of shows and movies that we love,there needs to be a thriving middle-class and career path for writers.”
As for whether SAG-AFTRA will model their negotiations off the writers’, Belloni said there is a “sense” that the union could; however, the actors’ union has demands specific to them that they will have to negotiate with studios and streamers.
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