The End of the Writers’ Strike, Explained

What a new agreement means for Hollywood and AI.

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Protesters join the picket line outside Fox Studios on September 28, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have finally agreed to terms that will end the five-month strike that has ground Hollywood productions to a halt. 

The WGA began a nearly 150-day strike on May 2 over issues with streaming compensation and fears over how artificial intelligence (AI) will affect writers’ jobs. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) followed course in July. But on Tuesday, the WGA announced that its negotiating committee was in unanimous agreement about the proposed deal and suspended the strike as of early Wednesday morning. 

With the strike officially over, 11,500 writers guild members will be permitted to return to work as of Wednesday. According to the WGA, the agreement’s victories include: a 5 percent minimum pay increase with additional increases in the next two years; stricter rules against AI usage; new residuals agreements tied to viewership with greater transparency; and improved contributions for benefits—a notable improvement for filmmakers who largely hop from gig-to-gig. 

Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA remains on strike, with the actors guild yet to announce future meetings with AMPTP. As 160,000 members continue picketing, though, talks could resume as early as next week, Deadline reported. 

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  1. RedBeardRob

    As always, The Dispatch can be relied on for concise summaries of complex issues. Great article!

    My only nitpick, speaking as a nerd for professional voice actors, is that Jason Marsden's name is misspelled "Masden" when he is first quoted. It's correct the in the second attribution.

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  2. Goatprairie

    Whoopee. Lots more rotten tv programs I can miss.

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  3. Remnantartist

    I do not work in live action therefore was unaffected by this strike, but being inside one of the big studios mentioned one big change thats going to happen is just less content. This was already the way the industry was moving prior to the strike as we reached the end of an entertainment boom cycle where so many titles were being produced to simply fill those streaming libraries an average user of a streaming service just couldn't even scratch the surface of what was available. Nor would they want too; there was certainly a lot of junk being made simply shotgunned out in to the world and finding an audience in the thousands. At the beginning of the year a lot of people on the development side were being let go and projects in development slashed. While the WGAs grievances were largely valid at the end of the day its going to be a victory for fewer writers than before and I think a lot of people will be finding alternate forms of employment regardless of the new protections.

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  4. InadvertantObfuscation

    Thanks for the clarity.

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    George.Skinner

    The problem is that the end of the strike doesn’t change the fundamental problem of the industry: revenues are dwindling. Broadcast and cable TV are dying; movie theaters aren’t attracting the same audiences they used to; streaming services have a huge appetite for new content, but don’t make the money that used to be earned on TV or in theaters. Movies and TV is getting gutted by the same factors that have hit the music industry and news industry, and it’s not going to be pretty.

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    1. Scianti7

      I'm sure someone will innovate something new to make money. I miss real TV. Not totally the commercials (which are significantly louder than the program) but the commercials funded the whole system, so one must appreciate that without the commercials there's no program. And without larger theater audiences, there aren't going to be the big budget films as often. Streaming doesn't cover the cost the same & honestly, many of us have simply learned to wait a few months.

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  6. Mrobertchase1

    Thank you for an informative article. It concentrates on wins for the strikers. Were there any notable losses?

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      Eahay19

      The real losses won’t be noticed for 10 to 15 years. That’s what happens when you try to slow or halt the natural technological progression that is taking place. AI and graphic generation will eventually become so developed that screenwriting and acting will diminish as a viable field, and Hollywood will become a much smaller human labor-intensive and -driven industry than it is now. All this agreement is doing is postponing the inevitable. But that’s the nature of change. People who are highly invested in the preservation of the status quo fight it.

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      1. Scianti7

        It's funny that you say that. I think that there will just be diversification of types of films. Just like stage theater did not disappear when movies came around, it did lose it's original place & market share. Painting & drawing did not die when photography was developed. There will be theater purists who enjoy the human aspect & art who'll continue to make films, & then depending on the way technologies are used & the standards of quality there'll be more technical stuff. Even film photography isn't gone, it is however greatly diminished.

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    J. Eric

    If there was never another new movie or television episode made, and the entire catalogue of previously made content erased, I would not care at all.

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      Eahay19

      True enough. And many others share your thoughts. But the “newness” of things drives the overall industry, and that’s what is at stake in this instance.

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    2. InadvertantObfuscation

      I'm halfway with you. I'm addicted to the old stuff.

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