LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leaders of the screenwriters union declared their nearly five-month-old strike over Tuesday after board members approved a contract agreement with studios, bringing Hollywood no less than partly back from a historic halt in production.
The governing boards of the eastern and western branches of the Writers Guild of America and their joint negotiating committee all voted to just accept the deal, and afterward declared that the strike could be over and writers could be free to work starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Late-night talk shows — the primary to go dark when writers walked out on May 2 — are likely the primary shows that may resume.
The writers still must vote to ratify the contract themselves, but lifting the strike will allow them to work during that process, the Writers Guild told members in an email.
After Tuesday’s board votes, the contracts were released to the writers, who had not yet been given any details on the deal, which their leaders called “exceptional.”
The members will vote between Oct. 2 and 9.
Hollywood actors remain on strike with no talks yet on the horizon, but a recent spirit of optimism animated those that were picketing Tuesday for the primary time since writers reached their tentative deal Sunday night.
“For a hot second, I actually thought that this was going to go on until next yr,” said Marissa Cuevas, an actor who has appeared on the TV series “Kung Fu” and “The Big Bang Theory.” “Knowing that no less than certainly one of us has gotten deal gives loads of hope that we may even get deal.”
Writers’ picket lines had been suspended, but they were encouraged to walk in solidarity with actors, and lots of were on the lines Tuesday, including “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, who picketed alongside friend and “ER” actor Noah Wyle as he has throughout the strikes.
“We might never have had the leverage we had if SAG had not gone out,” Weiner said. “They were very brave to do it.”
Striking actors also voted to authorize their leadership to potentially expand their walkout to incorporate the lucrative video game market, a step that would put recent pressure on Hollywood studios to make a cope with the performers who provide voices and stunts for games.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists announced the move late Monday, saying that 98% of its members voted to go on strike against video game firms if ongoing negotiations should not successful. The announcement got here ahead of more talks planned for Tuesday.
Acting in video games can include quite a lot of roles, from voice performances to motion capture work in addition to stunts. Video game actors went on strike in 2016 in a piece stoppage that lasted nearly a yr.
Among the same issues are at play within the video game negotiations as within the broader actors strike that has shut down Hollywood for months, including wages, safety measures and protections on the usage of artificial intelligence. The businesses involved include gaming giants Activision, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Take 2 Productions in addition to Disney and Warner Bros.′ video game divisions.
“It’s time for the video game firms to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in an announcement.
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for video game producers, said they’re “continuing to barter in good faith” and have reached tentative agreements on greater than half of the proposals on the table.
Up to now this yr, U.S. consumers have spent $34.9 billion on video games, consoles and accessories, based on market research group Circana.
The specter of a video game strike emerged as Hollywood writers were on the verge of getting back to work after months on the picket lines.
The alliance of studios, streaming services and producers has chosen to barter only with the writers to date, and has made no overtures yet toward restarting talks with SAG-AFTRA. That may presumably change soon.
SAG-AFTRA leaders have said they may look closely on the writers’ agreement, which incorporates most of the same issues, but it should not effect their demands.