(Reuters) – The Hollywood writers’ strike is nearing its end after a preliminary agreement with studios and streaming companies on Sunday after five months of disruption.
Is the strike over?
Not yet. The two sides still need to work out the language of the final contract, which will then need approval from the leadership of the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), as well as its 11,500 members.
Analysts said the approval should come swiftly, perhaps within a week. Writers will also no longer be on the picket lines as the union has asked them to stop protesting.
What were the writers’ demands?
Both the sides have not yet disclosed the details of the tentative agreement. Writers began the strike on May 2, asking for increased royalties, mandatory staffing of TV writing rooms and safeguards to their jobs from the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Another demand was that they get residual payments when a show becomes a hit. Media reports suggested on Sunday that studios had given in to several of those demands, including higher wages.
When will TV shows and movies return?
With writers expected to return to the office, late-night talk shows such as “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” could be among the first to be back.
But for everything else, it could take longer as the actors and performers’ union is still on strike. Their demands are similar to that of writers, including higher wages and protection against AI use.
The Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) is considerably larger than the WGA with 160,000 film and television actors, stunt performers and other media professionals.
Analysts said studios will try to move negotiations quickly with the SAG-AFTRA, but it could still take more than a month for an agreement to be ratified.
That means viewers will have wait more for the latest seasons of top shows like Billions, Stranger Things and Abbott Elementary.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
