On Friday, representatives from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) resumed talks with the goal of resolving the issues that have led to the writers’ strike, which began more than three months ago on May 2nd.
This week’s meeting was focused on reviewing the AMPTP’s response to demands presented by the WGA in a meeting last week. After the Friday meeting, WGA’s negotiators confirmed that they had “received a counterproposal from the AMPTP” and would “get back to them with the WGA’s response” next week. There were no leaks about the details of the discussions during the meeting, which may be a sign of progress in the negotiations.
As of Friday, the writers have been on strike for 100 days, the exact length of the most recent writers’ strike in 2007. Many expect the current strike to last at least into the fall, which could make it the longest strike in Hollywood’s 100+ year history.
If the actors’ and writers’ strikes last into the late fall and winter, studios will almost certainly force push-back release dates for upcoming movies as well as the availability of new TV and streaming series. This would have a material, negative impact on earnings across the industry. On the other hand, if the dispute can be resolved by Labor Day, the damage to the industry may be limited.