WGA’s Second Day Of Sit-Down With Studio CEOs Ends; More “Progress” Made
22.09.2023 - 01:31
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: A second day of direct negotiations between the Writers Guild and studio CEOs has concluded this evening.
While no deal is at hand at present, the parties have had significant and detailed talks this week, we hear. They are drilling down into the fine print in the hopes of reaching a new three-year contract within hours or days.
However, with the situation fluid and chatter around town of a deal, it is unclear at the moment if the scribes and studios will be meeting again. A new get-together could come tomorrow or on Tuesday, after the Yom Kippur holiday — we will update with more information as we get it. As it stands, a new meeting has not been set as the parties go over details and data coming out of the recent negotiations.
The writers have been on strike for 143 days, so far.
Once again, as Deadline exclusively reported Wednesday, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Bob Iger, Universal’s Donna Langley and Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav were in the room with WGA and AMPTP chief Carol Lombardini to try to seal a deal.
Meeting at the AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks offices, the nitty-gritty discussions Thursday centered primarily on the proposals put forth by the studios Wednesday and the guild’s response. With the issue of writer rooms staffing mandates among the sticking points, the CEO Gang of Four sat across the table from the union’s negotiating committee led by Ellen Stutzman, David Goodman and Chris Keyser.
Additionally, to move matters along in what generally were cordial exchanges, there were sidebars between the individual CEOs and WGA brass throughout Thursday, as was the case on September 20.
“These are complex negotiations,” a source close to this latest round of talks said of a potential deal. “You