Hollywood screenwriters confirm agreement with studios

Hollywood screenwriters almost unanimously approved the agreement with the studios on Monday, October 9, thus officially ending one of the longest strikes in the history of the industry in the United States. “99% of members of the WGA (Screenwriters Guild, Editor’s note) voted in favor of ratification” of the agreement with the studios, this union wrote on social media. The ratification of this agreement by a majority of the 11,500 members of the union was not in doubt and the writers had returned to work, allowing the return to the airwaves of the main American talk shows last week.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represented the industry's largest studios during negotiations with the WGA, on Monday welcomed the ratification of the new pact with screenwriters which "represents significant gains and protections" for the latter and “constitutes important progress for our industry”. Last month, after 148 days of strike, the screenwriters' union announced an agreement with the major studios Disney or Netflix in favor of an increase in their remuneration, at half mast in the era of streaming, and protection measures against to artificial intelligence (AI).

If the screenwriters are back to work, some 160,000 actors, stuntmen, dancers and other professionals from the small and big screens, who joined the strike in July, still have no agreement with the studios. Talks between striking actors from the large SAG-AFTRA union and Hollywood studio bosses began last week and were due to resume on Monday.

But the salary demands made by SAG-AFTRA, as well as the demand for guarantees in the face of AI, go further than those of their fellow screenwriters. Actors fear that AI will be used to clone their voice and image, without their consent and without remuneration.