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The WGA are heading back to the bargaining table with the CEOs of Netflix, Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros Discovery
“The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow,” said the guild in a message to members tonight. Executives Ted Sarandos, Bob Iger, Donna Langley and David Zaslav are all anticipated to be in attendance, along with AMPTP president Carol Lombardini and a praetorian guard of lawyers. On the other side, WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman, along with David Goodman and Chris Keyser will also be in the room at the AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks’ offices.
But scheduling and attendance weren’t the only messages the guild wanted to convey late Thursday after an unresolved marathon negotiating session with the studies and streamers. “Your Negotiating Committee appreciates all the messages of solidarity and support we have received the last few days, and ask as many of you as possible to come out to the picket lines tomorrow,” the WGA declared tonight in a call for a show of strength in front of the studio lots and offices in LA and NYC Friday.
The missive from the WGA came soon after news of the guild, the AMPTP and the CEO Gang of Four proving unable to close a deal to end the soon-to-be 144-day long strike became public. With the industry essentially shut down for almost five months, almost no one working, and the greater economy of LA County facing a hit of up to $5 billion it is estimated, there were high hopes an agreement was in the offering tonight — especially with the CEOs in the room and engaged.
Rumors had been picking up steam all day that a deal was very close after a second solid day of deliberations. When Thursday’s bargaining session suddenly went longer than expected, that heresay became a hurricane as agents, execs, showrunners and other began optimistically texting and DMing each other. Of course, a deal proved not to be in the cards tonight – which leaves the writers still on strike and the 160,000-strong SAG-AFTRA also out on the picket lines and no close to a new three-year contract of their own either.
After such a roller coaster ride today, and the concluding disappointment of tonight, enthusiasm about whether or not tomorrow’s negotiating session will be more successful may be harder to come by.
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