Newsom and Bass: ‘grateful’ for breakthrough in Hollywood writers’ strike

Bass added in her own statement: “After a nearly five-month strike, I am grateful that the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a fair agreement and hope that the same something could happen. soon with the Screen Actors Guild.

The deal came after a marathon four-day negotiating session at the studios’ trade association, located in a Sherman Oaks strip mall, that included top entertainment executives such as Disney’s Bob Iger and Ted Sarandos from Netflix. There, they negotiated points of agreement, including the minimum size of writing rooms and the payment structure for content on streaming platforms. They also debated text governing the use of artificial intelligence, which is viewed with suspicion by unions across sectors as likely to eliminate jobs.

Now the focus is on the much larger actors’ union, which went on strike in July and suspended its own negotiations pending an agreement from the writers.

The two strikes – the industry’s first in 60 years – were emblematic of this year’s “hot summer of work,” where Los Angeles was the epicenter of a wave of union mobilization. Pickets of school workers, hotel workers and artists dotted the city. Nationally, the ongoing auto worker strike has kept unions in the spotlight, with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump planning visits to Michigan this week to show solidarity with workers.

In Hollywood, the impasse which lasted several months cost the Californian economy several billion dollars.

In Los Angeles, permitted film and television shootings were down 69% for the week of September 17 compared to the same period last year, according to FilmLA, a nonprofit organization that serves as the official office of the cinema for the city and county of Los Angeles. Angeles. Although some production has continued, such as reality television and non-union independent films, no scripted television programs have been in production since mid-July. The status quo has slowed down the work of related businesses such as caterers and dry cleaners.

Production will not restart immediately. After members of the Writers Guild of America voted in favor of the deal, the studios must reach their own agreement with the actors’ union.

Newsom, who initially said he would only intervene if both sides wanted it, has been increasingly optimistic in recent weeks about the prospect of a resolution. He told POLITICO earlier this month that his conversations with the parties involved made him think a deal was close to being reached.

“At some point we’re going to land this plane,” he said.

Like the governor, Bass did not play a leading role in contract negotiations. The mayor has kept her public statements to a minimum during the nearly five-month standoff, lest it appear to distract from her top priority: cracking down on Los Angeles’ homeless crisis.

Yet as rumors of an imminent deal swirled in recent days, Bass stepped in Friday night with a public push to the finish line, urging the parties to “get this deal done.”