Back in May, the Writer’s Guild Of America union went on strike to improve working conditions and for better pay, resulting in the development of new shows and films being put on hold.  While the studios (AMPTP) and the union have had some meetings over the summer, after a month since their last minute, the two sides finally got back together for a meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by many of the CEOs of the major studios, including Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Universal’s Donna Langley and Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav.    Apparently, the CEOs have been having virtual meetings throughout the week to prepare for the negotiations and have cleared their schedules to sort out the situation.

And in a major step forward, the studios and writer’s union will meet again on Thursday, leading to much speculation that a deal could be finalised this week.   However, should talks break down again, the strike could continue until the end of the year.

The Writer’s Guild Of America and the studios have released a joint short statement confirming the news:

Dear Members,

The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow.

In solidarity,

WGA Negotiating Committee

With development on shows and films across the US and beyond on hold, the studios are trying to resolve the strike so they can resume work and rescue the winter TV season.   The studios are starting to feel the pinch from the impact of having no new films or episodes being written since May.  And with the WGA members picketing studios, this is also impacting on the filming of unscripted content like “Dancing With The Stars”.

There is a lot of hope that the writers and studios will be able to make a deal, to allow the writers to return to work, which would give them time to start preparing scripts for returning shows for this winter and for writing on new shows/films to begin.  The Screen Writers’ Guild of America is also still on strike, so filming can’t return until they come to a deal, but the studios have been focused on making a deal with the writers first, since the actors only went on strike in July.

Do you think the writer’s strike will be resolved this week?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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