Striking Hollywood screenwriters and studios will resume negotiations next week

LOS ANGELES– Contract negotiations that could end Hollywood’s screenwriters’ strike are expected to resume next week, the studios announced Thursday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry’s studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations, said in a statement that it contacted the Writers Guild of America on Wednesday and that both parties had agreed to resume negotiations soon. week.

Executives are still working out the details, the statement said, and no further details were provided.

“Every AMPTP member company is committed and eager to reach a fair agreement and work with the WGA to end the strike,” the statement said.

No negotiations are yet planned to resolve the actors’ strike.

Writers have been on strike for four and a half months over issues including wages, job security and regulating the use of artificial intelligence.

A previous attempt to restart negotiations had failed. The two sides had a handful of meetings in mid-August, including one attended by executives from Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery.

But the authors said that after exchanging contract proposals, “they heard a lecture about how good their one and only counteroffer was,” and discussions broke down.

California lawmakers voted Thursday to allow striking workers to claim unemployment benefits.

If signed by Newsom, the bill would benefit Southern California hotel workers as well as striking actors and writers.

But it’s unclear whether Newsom will sign it. The fund California uses to pay unemployment benefits is insolvent. Business groups said making more people eligible for benefits would only make the situation worse.

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For more on the actors’ and writers’ strikes, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/hollywood-strikes/