Latest AMPTP Proposal ‘Good Foundation’ But Needs Improvement, WGA Says
By Movieguide® Contributor
The AMPTP recently released a two-week-old proposal detailing its latest attempt to end the WGA strike and offer the writers the changes they desire.
The released proposal comes from August 11 – when the two sides met for the first time since the strike began 102 days earlier.
The deal’s main highlights include “increased data transparency,” offering “viewership data in the form of quarterly confidential reports” provided to the WGA. This confidential data would include “total SVOD view hours per title,” a data point streaming services have held to complete secrecy in the past.
“This new package substantially improves upon the AMPTP’s prior proposals,” said the AMPTP.
The deal also outlined an increase in guaranteed pay, a degree of minimum required staffing for writers’ rooms, protections for writers who choose to use generative AI and a new formal pipeline to help writers learn skills on the production side.
“Our priority is to end the strike so that valued members of the creative community can return to what they do best and to end the hardships that so many people and businesses that service the industry are experiencing,” said Carol Lombardini, President of the AMPTP.
“We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writes have expressed. We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution,” she continued.
While the proposal has outlined groundbreaking changes to the industry, many WGA members remain unimpressed.
“I think we’re going in the right direction, but I think that there’s still a lot of ground that needs to be covered,” WGA board member Dailyn Rodriguez told The Hollywood Reporter. “I can see loopholes all over the proposal, and our membership sees that as well.”
“They are treating us like children. Flying in CEOs to explain why this is a good deal and we should take it,” comedy writer Andrew Goldberg said about the deal. “Anyone who has tangled with business affairs on any deal knows that this is what they try to do to us, always. There’s always a call for our agents or lawyers telling us we are being unreasonable. It’s always a best and final and there’s never enough money until you push back and it miraculously appears.”
“If the entertainment conglomerates thought that they could bully us into caving, they’re still underestimating how much resolve we have and how fed up and dissatisfied the town is with the state of working the industry right now,” he added.
Other WGA members feel the most recent deal names the issues that the writers are most concerned about but fail to address their needs in a meaningful way.
“They have to address our core concerns, and at the moment, they’re completely ignoring them, whether it’s mini-rooms in television, minimum room size, or weekly pay for screen writers. They are fundamental things that we’ve been very consistent on and they need to address them,” said lot coordinator Rob Forman.
Still, the proposal is a step in the right direction as the studios work to end the strike and allow the industry to begin work again.
“This is a good foundation, a really good starting off point that may be in the makings a really good deal,” said Rodriguez, “but the devil is absolutely going to be in the details.”
The two sides are already set to meet again as they work to find a solution that both sides can agree upon.
Movieguide® previously reported on the strikes:
Talks between the WGA and AMPTP have resumed as the deadline to create new scripted shows for the Spring television season approaches.
Based on the typical length of production, Labor Day serves as a soft deadline for when the WGA needs to return to work for studios to release Spring seasons.
“Today many network dramas would have begun shooting their 4th episode of the fall season,” veteran TV writer-producer Warren Leight explained on X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 8th. “If the strike were somehow to end by Labor Day, and shooting were to begin in early fall, the networks might be able to salvage a 13 episode season. The clock keeps ticking.”
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
