Hollywood’s major studios and streaming services have unveiled a revised proposal to end the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) strikes that have pressed pause on the industry and impacted the wider California economy.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), representing giants like Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), has proposed a compounded 13% pay hike for the WGA over a three-year contract period.
Notably, the AMPTP has offered to exclude AI-generated content from being classified as "literary material" in order to address concerns about the increasing role of artificial intelligence in content creation.
Streaming platforms have offered to share confidential quarterly reports with the WGA, detailing the total number of hours viewed for each made-for-streaming show.
This step towards increased data transparency is seen as a move to address writers' concerns about fair compensation in the age of streaming.
Writers in development rooms will have a guaranteed 10-week minimum length of employment Staff writers will see their salary increase 31% to US$69,650 (£54,920), while writer-producers will see a 44% increase to US$142,140.
Staff writers in regular rooms will receive US$95,460 for a guaranteed 20 weeks’ of work, a 5% increase from current rates.
"We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed. We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution," stated AMPTP president Carol Lombardini.
Representing approximately 11,500 film and television writers, the WGA began its strike on May 2 under the core issues of compensation, minimum staffing in writers' rooms, and residual payments in the streaming era.
The Screen Actors Guild joined the WGA on the picket lines on July 14, further stalling much of the US film and scripted television production.
The current standoff, which was initiated in early May, has already surpassed the duration of the 2007-08 strike, marking it as one of the most prolonged disputes in Hollywood's history.
At the time of writing, the WGA has yet to respond to the offer.