WGA and Studios Meeting Again on Saturday, New Details on Why the Writers Did Not Close on Thursday Allegedly Revealed
For the third day in a row on Friday, Hollywood writers and studios returned to the bargaining table to hammer out a deal that would end the 145-day WGA strike. Just like the two days before, progress was reportedly made but they didn’t quite get there. After a 10-hour session that included a lot of waiting around, they agreed to return on Saturday, a definitive sign that they are very interested in getting this done as soon as possible.
Specifics on what are the unresolved points are very much unclear at this point, with multiple outlets claiming different things. Matt Belloni said on CNBC on Friday morning that the issues on artificial intelligence were pretty much agreed upon between both parties, while The Hollywood Reporter says that this is actually something they can’t quite get on the same page on. Minimum staffing for TV writers’ rooms seems to be something that everyone from the press agrees they can’t resolve.
Per Deadline, the studios want to get this done before the Jewish holiday, which starts on sundown Sunday and goes through sundown Monday. Why, though? Who knows, but it seems like they want to give the WGA a few days to consult their base on the agreement they are able to reach, ratify it, and get everyone back to work by Monday, October 2.
Coming out of the Thursday meeting, Matt Belloni said on his What I’m Hearing newsletter that studios thought they had a deal by 5pm PT, but then it all fell through. We now may have more input on this issue. The Ankler reported on Friday that apparently the WGA has been in contact with former chief negotiator David Young, who left his position earlier this year citing medical reasons. Young would have been consulted on a deal the WGA negotiating committee, led by Ellen Stutzman, was happy with — and then told them to go back to fight on two specific (but undisclosed) issues. That was obviously met with a lot of resentment by the studios.
The information was apparently included in a text message sent by several agents to the writers, who then resent it into a 500-people WhatsApp group that includes Hollywood’s main showrunners. Here is the text:
“Latest updates I heard they are truly on the one yard line. Won’t get done tonight but will by Sunday evening, or earlier. Down to two points.
Turns out the WGA negotiating committee calls [former WGA chief negotiator] David [Young] and runs everything by him…last night at 5 they agreed to a deal. It was David who told them to go back and ask for those other two points and ‘squeeze their nuts the same way we did the agents’. That’s what happened and that’s who’s been behind the scenes this entire time, hence why it’s taking so long.
“That’s what happened and that’s who’s been behind the scenes this entire time, hence why it’s taking so long. [The Hollywood Reporter’s] Kim Masters has the story and is going to break it soon”
The Ankler confirmed that one of those agents who forwarded the message was Ari Greenburg, from WME, who claimed to not be the source but rather just an intermediary. It should be noted that Kim Masters refuted any knowledge of the situation, so it’s all up in the air at this point:
Five writers have contacted me tonight about a scandalous story that I am supposedly breaking. I haven’t even made a single call about this supposed story. Beware of rumors.
— Kim Masters (@kimmasters) September 23, 2023
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
