LOS ANGELES (AP) – Screenwriters’ union leaders declared their nearly five-month strike Tuesday after board members approved a contract deal with studios, bringing Hollywood at least partially back from a historic production shutdown.
The governing boards of the eastern and western branches of the Writers Guild of America and their joint negotiating committee all voted to accept the deal, and subsequently declared that the strike would end and writers would be free to work as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
The late-night talk show — the first to go dark when writers walked out on May 2 — may be the first to resume.
Writers still have to vote to ratify the contract itself, but calling off the strike will allow them to work during that process, the Writers Guild told members in an email.
After the board’s vote on Tuesday, the contract was issued to the writers, who have yet to be given any details about the deal, which their leader called “extraordinary.”
Members will vote between Oct 2 and 9.
Jeri Ryan walks the picket line at the SAG-AFTRA strike on September 26, 2023. GC Images
Hollywood actors continue their strike with no further talks on the horizon, but a new spirit of optimism imbued those picketing Tuesday for the first time since the writers reached their tentative agreement Sunday night.
“For a while, I really thought this would go on until next year,” said Marissa Cuevas, an actress who has appeared on the TV series “Kung Fu” and “The Big Bang Theory.” “Knowing that at least one of us has gotten a good deal gives me a lot of hope that we will get a good deal as well.”
The writers’ picket line has been suspended, but they are encouraged to walk in solidarity with the cast, and many joined the line on Tuesday, including “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, who picketed with friend and “ER” actor Noah Wyle as he has throughout strike
SAG-AFTRA actors walk on picket line outside Netflix studios.AP
“We would never have had the leverage we had if SAG hadn’t come out,” Weiner said. “They were very brave to do it.”
Starring actors also voted to authorize their leadership to expand their potential exits to include the lucrative video game market, a move that could put new pressure on Hollywood studios to make deals with performers who provide voice and acting for games.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists announced the move late Monday, saying that 98% of its members voted to go on strike against the video game company if ongoing negotiations fail. The announcement comes ahead of more talks planned for Tuesday.
Actors Bob Odenkirk, left, and Jack Black, right, join protesters outside Paramount Pictures Studio in Los Angeles.AP
Acting in video games can encompass a variety of roles, from voice acting to motion capture and action work. Video game actors went on strike in 2016 in a work stoppage that lasted nearly a year.
Some of the same issues are at play in the video game negotiations as in the broader actors’ strike that has shut down Hollywood for months, including wages, safety measures and protections against the use of artificial intelligence. The companies involved include gaming giants Activision, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Take 2 Productions as well as the video game divisions of Disney and Warner Bros.
“It’s time for video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement.
The Writers Guild strike has been resolved after five months of SAG-AFTRA.AP protests
Audrey Cooling, a spokeswoman for the video game maker, said they “continue to negotiate in good faith” and have reached tentative agreement on more than half of the proposals on the table.
So far this year, US consumers have spent $34.9 billion on video games, consoles and accessories, according to market research group Circana.
The threat of a video game strike comes as Hollywood writers are on the verge of returning to work after months on the picket line.
The alliance of studios, streaming services and producers has chosen to negotiate only with writers so far, and has not made any proposals to restart talks with SAG-AFTRA. That may soon change.
SAG-AFTRA leaders said they will take a close look at the writers’ agreement, which covers many of the same issues, but it will not affect their demands.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
