The AMPTP, after the Writers Guild of America revealed earlier Friday it had been talking to individual studios in an effort to break the Hollywood writers’ strike impasse, said the coalition is “aligned and are negotiating together to reach a resolution.”
“Any suggestion to the contrary is false,” said a statement from the coalition of major Hollywood studios.
The WGA earlier in the day revealed it had engaged in constructive conversations with individual studios within the AMPTP, noting that the “standstill” in negotiations comes from the studios’ end. The statement from the WGA also blamed the studios “disparate business models and interests” for the continued strike, which on Friday hit 129 days. (The SAG-AFTRA strike is at 56 days and counting).
The studio coalition offered that the writers’ guild “has achieved substantial gains for its members during this negotiation process and holds the power to move this negotiation forward by responding to the AMPTP’s most recent offers on key issues. The AMPTP, including all its member companies, remains eager to reach resolution.”
The statement came a few hours after the WGA drew a new line in the sand, saying there was “no requirement that the companies negotiate through the AMPTP.” The guild also said it was open to negotiating with “one or more of the major studios, outside the confines of the AMPTP, to establish the new WGA deal.”
But the Hollywood studios’ negotiating coalition balked at the idea.
“Every member company of the AMPTP wants a fair deal for writers and actors and an end to the strikes, which are affecting not only our writer and actor colleagues, but also thousands of others across the industry,” the AMPTP statement said. “That is why the AMPTP has repeatedly put forward offers that address major priorities of the WGA, including a last round of offers on August 17th and 18th. On many issues, AI among them, we are close. Our AI proposal has provided clear guarantees that the use of AI will not affect writers’ pay, credit or separated rights. We have asked the WGA to identify any remaining holes in the AI offer and it has not responded.”
The AMPTP statement continued: “On the important topic of mandatory staffing, the WGA has remained entrenched in its original position, except for a single modest change in its position on staffing in development rooms.”
The AMPTP also laid out what it called a “timeline of proposals,” as seen below, in which it said it had not heard from the WGA since Aug. 18 after “offering further compromises.”
- April 14, 2023: AMPTP presented WGA with its Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 31-page document
- April 26, 2023: AMPTP presented WGA with its Revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 40-page document
- April 30, 2023: AMPTP presented WGA with its Second Revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 41-page document that addressed all items in negotiations
- August 11, 2023: AMPTP presented WGA with its Third Revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, a 69-page document that addressed all items in negotiations
- August 15, 2023: WGA responded with a 4-page document with limited moves in a handful of areas
- August 16, 2023: WGA provided details of its revised written proposal on A.I.
- August 17, 2023: AMPTP provided WGA a revised AI counterproposal, which focused on the key concerns that the WGA had expressed during discussion the previous day
- August 18, 2023: AMPTP offered further compromises to WGA’s August 15th response. WGA indicated it would respond the following week. AMPTP has not heard from the Guild since that time
For more of TheWrap’s Hollywood strike coverage, click here.
