Writers and producers are nearing an agreement to end the Writers Guild of America strike, after meeting face-to-face on Wednesday. Both sides hope to finalize a deal on Thursday.
The strike, which has lasted more than 100 days, has halted production of many high-profile TV shows and movies. The writers’ union has been pushing for higher compensation, new rules that would require studios to staff TV shows with a certain number of writers, and compensation throughout the process of preproduction, production, and postproduction.
The two sides have been negotiating for months, and this is the closest they have come to a resolution. Discussions have included sit-down conversations with top media brass, including Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, and NBCUniversal film head Donna Langley.
The strikes have weighed on media companies as they grapple with making streaming profitable and getting people back in theaters. Warner Bros. Discovery, for example, has warned investors that the strikes could cost the company $300 million to $500 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization this year.
At a conference earlier this month, Zaslav called for an end to the strikes. “We need to do everything we can to get people back to work,” he said. “We really have to focus as an industry, and we are, on trying to get this resolved in a way that’s really fair.”
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