By Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Striking Hollywood screenwriters and senior studio executives met for the third day on Friday and decided to continue talks on Saturday to end a strike that has paralyzed production. of film and television for months.
While entertainment industry workers waited for news about the outcome, no agreement was announced as the 144th day of the strike passed.
In a statement issued early Saturday, the WGA said the two sides would meet again on Saturday.
Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney, Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Donna Langley, president of Comcast’s NBCUniversal Studio Group, participated in talks with the Screenwriters Guild of America (WGA) for the third consecutive day.
Representatives from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, had no comment.
As the two sides met, union members turned out in large numbers in response to a call from WGA negotiators Thursday to strengthen picket lines outside the studios.
Among the crowd at Netflix’s doors Friday was “Mad Men” creator and screenwriter Matthew Weiner, who, like others, was optimistic that recent conversations indicate progress is being made.
“I’m hopeful,” Weiner said of the possibility of the strike coming to an end. “I’d like to get back to work and I’d like to start mending these relationships.”
About 11,500 left WGA members went on strike in May, demanding higher wages and residuals in the era of streaming television, as well as limits on the use of artificial intelligence.
Producer and WGA member Al Septien, who also picketed outside Netflix on Friday, said he wanted to return to work, but only under the right conditions.
“We’ve been here a long time. We don’t want to give up on a contract that’s less than fair and good for the writers,” he said.
The actors union SAG-AFTRA has also been on strike since July. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine, Dawn Chemielewski and Sandra Stojanovic in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)
Source: Ambito
