Negotiators for Hollywood’s major studios and striking film and television writers failed to reach an agreement to end a months-long stalemate after meeting for ten hours on Thursday, CNN reported.
Representatives of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) talked for more than 10 hours, CNN said. It is unclear when they will convene again.
Spokespeople for the WGA and the AMPTP did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The two sides are expected to lock horns once again on Friday.
To help spark a deal, sessions on Wednesday and Thursday were attended by Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Comcast’s NBCUniversal Studio Group Chairman Donna Langley and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, according to a source close to the studios.
Roughly 11,500 WGA members walked off the job in May to protest pay and working conditions in the streaming TV era.
Battlestar Galactica cast members Sam Witwer, James Callis, Edward James Olmos, Michael Trucco and Mary McDonnell pose with writers and fans at the “Battlestar Galactica” themed picket during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA Strike held at NBCUniversal on September 21
This combination of photos shows Disney CEO Bob Iger, left, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav who were present for Thursday’s ‘marathon session’
Also at the negotiating table was Comcast’s NBCUniversal Studio Group Chairman Donna Langley
The SAG-AFTRA actors union went on strike in July, putting Hollywood in the midst of two simultaneous work stoppages for the first time in 63 years.
On Wednesday night, CNBC reporter David Faber wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the writers and AMPTP were ‘near’ an agreement and ‘hope to finalize the deal,’ according to his anonymous sources.
He also said his sources warned that should the deal not close, the strike is likely to continue until the end of the year.
No other outlet has been able to corroborate Faber’s report. Deadline reported, however, that the first day of negotiations were ‘very encouraging.’
The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment to representatives for the AMPTP, the WGA and other entertainment companies.
The two sides have been divided on issues of pay, the size of writing staffs on shows and the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of scripts.
Actors, who joined the writers on strike in July, have their own issues but there have been no discussions about resuming negotiations with their union yet.
The mood outside Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters was upbeat Thursday, with music blaring and drivers honking in support of the picketers.
The WGA strike is nearing record length. Should it continue through Sept. 30, it will be the longest in the union’s history and the longest Hollywood strike since 1945
Edward James Olmos attends the Battlestar Galactica themed picket
Karina Wolfe pictured on Thursday the protest. The mood outside Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters was upbeat Thursday, with music blaring and drivers honking in support of the picketers
Actor-writer-producer Justine Bateman, who starred in the ’80s series ‘Family Ties,’ said the key to making a deal was that the guild’s basic agreement offer the right terms to the new generation of writers.
‘The point is not to have a resolution as much as to make sure that we have made a deal that protects us … writers in the minimum basic agreement,’ Bateman said, noting that she and other writers-producers had benefited from the terms of earlier contracts.
‘It has to be a deal that makes this worth it,’ she said.
A previous attempt to restart talks with the writers fell flat.
The two sides had a handful of meetings in mid-August, including one that included the heads of Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery.
But writers said that after exchanging contract proposals, ‘they were met with a lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was,’ and the talks trailed off.
The WGA strike is nearing record length. Should it continue through Sept. 30, it will be the longest in the union’s history and the longest Hollywood strike since 1945.