The nightmare of 2023 appears to have been averted three years later. Today, the Writers Guild of America and the AMPTP agreed to a new tentative agreement. The new four-year deal will need to be ratified by the overall WGA membership but is expected to include new AI provisions, a substantial new contribution to the WGA’s Health Plan, and a relative increase in residuals, including streaming. The current three-year deal is set to end on May 30.
In a statement, the WGA remarked, “Today, the WGA Negotiating Committee approved a four-year tentative agreement with the AMPTP for the 2026 Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). Crucially, it protects our health plan and puts it on a sustainable path, with increased company contributions across many areas and long-needed increases to health contribution caps. The new contract also builds on gains from 2023 and helps address free work challenges. The WGA Negotiating Committee recommends that the WGAW Board and WGAE Council approve sending the agreement to the WGA membership for a ratification vote later this month. The Memorandum of Agreement and Summary will be shared after the Board and Council vote. Members will receive more information in the coming days, including dates for joint WGAE-WGAW Zoom meetings where they will have the opportunity to learn about the deal terms before the ratification voting period.”
The AMPTP has not released an official statement at this time, but a spokesman did note, “The AMPTP has reached a tentative agreement with the WGA. We look forward to building on this progress as we continue working toward agreements that support long-term industry stability.”
The fact that the WGA and AMPTP were able to reach a deal in less than four weeks of negotiations will be a huge source of relief for many in the industry. The scribes have a reputation for setting the bar when it comes to negotiation terms, and this likely means new deals for the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America will be hammered out relatively quickly.
Reportedly, with longtime and notorious AMPTP nemesis Carol Lombardi no longer in the mix, the negotiations between the two parties were relatively cordial. The deal was hammered out on the WGA’s side by Ellen Stutzman.
The 2023 strikes brought Hollywood to a standstill. The 148-day work stoppage between May and September was the second longest in the union’s history. Concurrently, it was the beginning of a major production shutdown as the WGA’s sister union, the Screen Actors Guild, struck in July 2023 and did not reach an agreement with the AMPTP until the beginning of November.
Meanwhile, the staff of the WGA West, citing unfair labor practices, continues its seven-week-long strike. A strike that saw the cancellation of the WGA Awards in Los Angeles last month. This has been an absolute embarrassment for the WGA, considering its reputation among American unions overall. A resolution to that work stoppage should be the guild’s next priority.
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Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
