The WGA has confirmed the writers’ guild will resume negotiations with the AMPTP on Wednesday.
“The WGA and AMPTP now have a confirmed schedule to bargain this week, starting on Wednesday,” the guild wrote in a memo to members on Monday morning. “You might not hear from us in the coming days while we are negotiating, but know that our focus is getting a fair deal for writers as soon as possible.”
After setting expectations that the WGA will send out updates to its membership less frequently over the course of the week, the guild’s negotiating said they would reach out again “when there is something of significance to report.”
“In the meantime, please continue to demonstrate your commitment and unity by coming out to the picket lines – for yourselves and fellow writers, SAG-AFTRA, other unions’ members, and all those in our community who are impacted by the strikes,” the memo concluded.
The impending meeting follows up on a commitment from both the guild and the studios to resume negotiations this week, with the WGA confirming to its members last Thursday that the “WGA and AMPTP are in the process of scheduling a time to get back in the room.”
“We have agreed and are working to schedule a meeting next week,” the AMPTP said in a statement on Thursday. “Every member company of the AMPTP is committed and eager to reach a fair deal, and to working together with the WGA to end the strike.”
While meetings occurred between the guild and the studios throughout several days in August, negotiations stalled over the past month as both sides accused one another of delaying talks. In a Sept. 8 memo, the WGA said its leadership had engaged in constructive conversations with individual studios within the AMPTP, and encouraged studios within the alliance who desired a fair deal to “take control of the AMPTP process itself, or decide to make a deal separately.”
Following the WGA statement, the AMPTP denied the claims of individual meetings as “false,” and said the coalition is “aligned and are negotiating together to reach a resolution.”
The meeting to resume negotiations comes well into the WGA strike’s fourth month, with the addition of the SAG-AFTRA strike beginning in mid-July shutting down virtually every production across film and TV.
For all of TheWrap’s WGA strike coverage, read here.
