In an apparent effort to break the labor stalemate that has helped shut down nearly every Hollywood production, major entertainment studios took the unusual step Tuesday night of issuing details of their latest offering to the union that represents a staggering 11,500 televisions. And movie writers.
Studios are facing important decisions about pushing the release of big-budget films like “Dune: Part Two” into next year, and whether the network TV slate can be salvaged for the 2023-2024 season or reduced to reality shows and reruns.
Shortly before the proposal’s public release, several CEOs of major Hollywood companies, including David Zaslav, who leads Warner Bros. Discovery, and Robert A. Iger, the leader of Disney, met with officials of the Writers Guild of America, the Writers Guild, to discuss the latest proposal. , according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session.
By issuing the proposal, companies are essentially getting around the union’s negotiating committee and appealing to rank-and-file members—and betting that their proposal will sound good enough to the members to pressure their leaders into a deal. Some writers immediately responded, including David Slack, whose credits include “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” and “Person of Interest.”
“Not only are these proposals insufficient, they are an attempt by bosses to divide our members, in hopes that we start arguing with each other about the parts we can and cannot live with,” Mr. Slack wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. . “Don’t fall for it.”
The writers have been on strike for 113 days. The studios and writers resumed negotiations on August 11 for the first time since early May. Since then, there has been optimism within the entertainment industry that labor disputes may be on the way to resolution.
In a statement late last week, the leaders of the Writers Guild said they will meet again this week with the studios.
But the public disclosure of the proposal by the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, which bargains on behalf of the studios, suggests that negotiations may once again have reached an impasse. The studios and the Writers Guild generally agreed to abide by a media blackout while at the negotiating table, and the studio alliance only issued occasional public statements in front of the union.
“We have come to the negotiating table with a proposal that addresses the priority concerns expressed by the writers,” said Carole Lombardini, the coalition’s chief negotiator, in a statement that accompanied details of the latest proposal. “We are deeply committed to ending the strike and hope that the Writers Guild of America will work toward the same resolution.”
A representative for the Writers’ Guild did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hollywood has been effectively on lockdown since tens of thousands of Hollywood actors joined the high-profile screenwriters on July 14. compensation levels.
The studios said their latest proposal offered “the highest pay increase” for writers in more than three decades, as well as an increase in residual expenses (a type of royalty) that has been a major point of contention. The studios also said they offered “historic protection” against AI, and pledged to provide to the syndication some degree of streaming viewing data, information previously kept under lock and key.
In the statement, the studios said they were “committed to reaching a fair deal to return the industry to what it does best: creating TV shows and movies that inspire and entertain audiences around the world.”