Hollywood writers and studios end walkout but actors keep striking

Union leaders and Hollywood studios reached a deal to end a historic screenwriters strike after nearly five months.

But actors will continue their walkout as they have not reached an agreement yet.

Writers’ union, The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a joint statement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.

“WGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP,” the guild said in an email to members.

“This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days.”

It took five days of talks between the unions, negotiators and executives from Netflix, Warners Bros and NBC, to reach a three-year contract agreement.

The terms of the deal were not immediately announced and it will need to be approved by the guild’s board and members before the strike officially ends.

In a longer message from the guild shared by members on social media, the writers were told the strike is not over and no one was to return to work until hearing otherwise.

But picketing is to be suspended immediately.

Actor Jack Black pictured on the SAG-AFTRA picket line. / Credit: AP

The agreement comes just five days before the strike would have become the longest in the guild’s history, and the longest Hollywood strike more than 70 years.

About 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America walked off the job May 2 over issues of pay, the size of writing staffs on shows and the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of scripts.

In 2008, the tentative deal to end the last writers strike, was approved by more than 90% of members.

As a result of the agreement, nightly network shows including NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” could return to the air within days.

For actors, who joined the writers on strike in July, the industrial action continues and talks have not resumed yet.

“SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency and solidarity on the picket lines,” the actors union said in a statement.

“While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members.”

The statement said the guild continues “to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand.”