Since the beginning of May, over 11,500 screenwriters who are part of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike. The ongoing labour dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has shown no real sign of ending, with some speculating it could last until next year.
A number of movies and TV shows have already been delayed, but writers simply want better pay and assurances they're not about to be replaced by artificial intelligence.
According to Bloomberg, Hollywood studios have now made an offer to these striking scribes that includes a number of concessions. Those include a greater level of transparency with viewer data and a promise that humans will remain the credited writers of screenplays and not AI programs.
Steamers currently keep viewership data a closely guarded secret, but that information would be shared with writers moving forward, specifically in regard to the number of hours a title is viewed. That will presumably make a big difference to some of the laughable residual cheques we've seen shared on social media lately.
In fact, the studios are also offering a 20+% increase in residual payments for TV shows which appear on networks other than the one they were made for.
Despite becoming a target of those on strike for describing the actions of WGA and SAG-AFTRA members as "disturbing," Disney CEO Bob Iger and Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos are believed to be spearheading these latest attempts to reach a deal with writers.
The WGA is thought to be considering the proposals, but whether they'll be enough to get writers back behind their keyboards remains to be seen. It's certainly a step in the right direction, though we'd imagine actors will remain on the picket lines until they receive similar assurances.
As always, keep checking back here for updates on this developing story as we have them.
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