In an apparent attempt to break a labor stalemate that has helped halt nearly all Hollywood production, the major entertainment studios took the unusual step Tuesday night of publicly releasing details of their latest union proposal. representing 11,500 striking television and film writers.
Studios are facing significant decisions about whether to push the release of big-budget movies like “Dune: Part Two” into next year, and whether the network television lineup for the 2023-2024 season can be saved or cut back on reality shows and reruns.
Shortly before the public release of the proposal, several chief executives at major Hollywood companies, including David Zaslav, who heads Warner Bros. Discovery, and Robert A. Iger, the Disney kingpin, met with officials at the Writers Guild of America, the writers’ union, to discuss the latest proposal, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session.
By releasing the proposal, the companies are essentially going around the guild’s negotiating committee and appealing to rank-and-file members – betting that their proposal will be good enough for members to force their way through. leader to make a deal. Several writers immediately backed out, including David Slack, whose credits include “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” and “Person of Interest.”
“Not only are these proposals still insufficient, they are an attempt by the bosses to divide our members, hoping that we will start arguing with each other about which parts we can and cannot live with ,” Mr. Slack wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Don’t fall for it.”
The writers have been on strike for 113 days. Studios and writers resumed negotiations on August 11 for the first time since early May. Since then, there has been optimism within the entertainment industry that labor disputes may be on the way to resolution.
In a statement last week, writers’ union leaders said they would meet again this week with the studios.
But the public disclosure of the proposal by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, indicates that negotiations may once again reach an impasse. Studios and writers’ unions have generally agreed to abide by a media blackout while at the bargaining table, and the studio alliance only occasionally issues public statements before the guild.
“We came to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns expressed by the writers,” Carol Lombardini, the lead negotiator for the alliance, said in a statement accompanying the details of the latest proposal. “We are deeply committed to ending the strike and hope that the Writers Guild of America will work toward the same resolution.”
A representative for the Writers Guild did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hollywood has been effectively shut down since tens of thousands of Hollywood actors joined striking screenwriters on picket lines on July 14. Writers and actors alike have called the moment “existential,” arguing that the streaming era is their working conditions worsened as did their levels of compensation.
The studios said their latest proposal offered the “biggest pay increase” to writers in more than three decades, as well as an increase in residuals (a type of royalty) that have been a major point of contention. The studios also said they offered “landmark protections” against artificial intelligence, and vowed to offer some level of streaming viewership data to the guild, information previously held under lock and key. key.
In the statement, the studios said they are “committed to reaching a fair settlement to return the industry to what it does best: creating TV shows and movies that inspire and entertain to audiences around the world.”
