Lessons From the Writers Guild’s Deal With UTA: Why Now and What’s Next?

Three months after a judge’s ruling seemed to deal a crippling blow to the WGA’s nearly two-year campaign to eliminate packaging fees, the guild announced a potentially seismic deal with United Talent Agency on Wednesday that puts the guild closer than ever to its goal. Back in March 2019, the WGA began the push by enforcing new rules that barred agencies wanting to represent writers from collecting fees for packaging talent into film or TV projects, arguing that such fees are a conflict of interest that encourage agencies to make the best deals for themselves and prioritize the most lucrative talent at the expense of lesser-known writers.