After marathon session, WGA negotiations end Friday without reaching agreement – The Hollywood Reporter

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The Writers Guild of America met again with CEOs and studio and streamer negotiators on Friday in a marathon bargaining session that failed to reach an agreement, though insiders on the management side claimed progress had been made.

Talks continued into the night of the third day as union negotiators met with a group of top company leaders including Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos at the offices of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In Sherman Oaks. The meeting began at 11 a.m. Pacific time and concluded at 8:45 p.m., according to sources.

The two sides have made a lot of progress [engaged in] A source from the administration side said: “Good intentions, but they need more time.” “Everyone is fully engaged however [it’s] It is unclear what the specific plans are.

Potential regulations on the use of AI have remained a major issue on the table. “AI remains the thorny issue,” an administration source said. On this issue, the person said: “They are still far apart.”

In its own statement Friday night to members, the WGA’s negotiating committee indicated that the two parties would meet again on Saturday. “Thank you for the amazing show of support on the picket lines today! This means so much to us as we continue to work toward a deal the book deserves,” the panel wrote.

Negotiators had made progress in the previous days of talks, according to sources on the studio side, but the mood was tense on the management side late Thursday, when the union allegedly returned with questions about issues the studios believed had already been settled. “We were all going crazy,” said one source on the studio side, though their feeling on Friday was that both sides were intent on making a deal and were moving through the hiccups. As negotiations dragged on Friday, the CEOs spent long periods waiting in their conference room killing time, people familiar with the studio’s proceedings said.

Meanwhile, the mood among writers on crowded picket lines on Friday was one of cautious optimism, with union members predicting that the end of the historic work stoppage may be near. “The fact that they’ve been talking for three days in a row is amazing,” said showrunner Marc Guggenheim (Legends of tomorrow) Tell THR At disney.

As of late Thursday, sources from the studio claimed that their side had taken steps on the WGA’s most important issues including artificial intelligence and residual compensation tied to the success of the live streaming shows. Television staffing requirements were also a major point of discussion that day at the negotiating table and management made concessions there, according to these sources. In a letter to members Thursday night, the WGA’s bargaining committee said only that “the WGA and AMPTP met to bargain today and will meet again tomorrow,” and urged members to show up in force at the picket lines on Friday.

The 144-day Writers Guild of America strike is 10 days away from tying the 1988 labor strike as the longest strike in the union’s history. In July, several months after the WGA strike, members of the performers union SAG-AFTRA joined their writer counterparts on picket lines, shutting down most Hollywood productions.

Kim Masters contributed reporting.

September 22, 9:48 p.m Updated with statement from the WGA Negotiating Committee.