Los Angeles — Union leaders told striking Hollywood writers Tuesday night that they plan to meet with representatives of studios to discuss restarting negotiations after the first official communication between the two sides since the writers’ walkout began three months ago.
The Writers Guild of America sent an email to members saying the head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations, requested a meeting on Friday to discuss the resumption of contract talks.
“We’ll be back in communication with you sometime after the meeting with further information,” the email read. “As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors. Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us.”
It wasn’t immediately known whether a similar overture was made to union leaders for Hollywood actors, who have been on strike since July 14.
Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP
This is the first time two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was the actors’ guild’s president.
Asked about the prospect of talks with either guild, a spokesperson for the AMPTP only said in an email that, “We remain committed to finding a path to mutually beneficial deals with both Unions.”
An Associated Press email to a representative of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents striking film and television actors, wasn’t immediately returned.
The AMPTP represents Hollywood studios including Paramount, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Sony, Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney.
Talks between screenwriters and their employers collapsed on May 1, and the first of the two walkouts that have frozen production in Hollywood began a day later. Issues include pay rates amid inflation, the use of smaller writing staffs for shorter seasons of television shows, and control over artificial intelligence in the screenwriting process.
“I had hoped that we would already have had some kind of conversations with the industry by now,” SAG-AFTRA Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told The Associated Press earlier Tuesday, before the email was sent to writers. “Obviously, that hasn’t happened yet, but I’m optimistic.”
Picketers have marched outside major studios and network offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
Editor’s note: Paramount+ and CBS News and Stations are part of Paramount Global, one of the companies affected by the strike. Some CBS News staff are WGA and SAG-AFTRA members but work under different contracts than the writers and actors who are on strike.