SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers picket outside Disney Studios on July 25, 2023 in Burbank, California, USA. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Obtain licensing rights
LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Striking Hollywood writers and top studio executives met for a third day on Friday and decided to resume talks on Saturday in an attempt to end a strike that has halted film and television production. for months.
No deal was announced as the strike entered its 144th day as entertainment industry workers awaited word on the outcome.
The two sides will meet again on Saturday, the WGA said in a statement early Saturday.
Walt Disney ( DIS.N ) CEO Bob Iger, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD.O ) CEO David Zaslav and Donna Langley, president of Comcast’s ( CMCSA.O ) NBCUniversal Studio Group, took part in the talks. With the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for the third day.
Representatives for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, had no comment.
As the two sides met, union members turned out in large numbers Thursday in response to a plea by WGA negotiators to flood picket lines outside the studios.
In the crowd outside Netflix on Friday was „Mad Men” creator and writer Matthew Weiner, who, like others, voiced optimism that the recent talks are making progress.
„I’m optimistic,” Weiner said, that the strike could end. „I want to go back to work and start mending these relationships.”
11,500 WGA members walked off the job in May, demanding higher wages and benefits in the streaming TV era and limits on the use of artificial intelligence.
Producer and WGA member Al Septien picketed outside Netflix on Friday, saying he wants to go back to work, but only under the right terms.
„We’ve been here for a long time. We don’t want a fair and good deal for writers,” he said.
The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union also walked off the job in July.
Reporting by Lisa Richwine, Dan Kemielewski and Sandra Stojanovic in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Kanjik Ghosh; Editing by Sri Navaratnam and William Mallard
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