Hollywood writers and producers have made “significant progress” in negotiations to end the 145-day strike, but the main sticking point has been language around the use of artificial intelligence, two sources familiar with the negotiations said Saturday.
The sources said that studio executives did not attend the talks on Saturday, which lasted eight hours, and negotiations ended without reaching an agreement.
The two sides — the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — said in a joint statement that negotiations would resume on Sunday.
AMPTP is a trade group that negotiates with major studios and streaming services. (The group represents NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
Back-to-back weekend meetings may be a glimmer of hope amid a strike that ended some TV shows before their seasons ended and the postponement of the annual fall season of debuts and returns.
Writers have complained that they are being short-sold when it comes to their share of streaming revenue. They also want to increase royalties, or residual payments, and protect against the possibility that studios will use artificial intelligence to handle some writing duties and keep them out of jobs.
A source familiar with the discussions said afterward that the two sides went to the table on Wednesday for discussions that took a heated turn on Thursday when studio heads joined in marathon talks that lasted more than 10 hours.
Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav and Comcast’s NBCUniversal Studio Group President Donna Langley were in attendance, this source said.
At the time, the source said there was a feeling that the two sides were “close” to reaching an agreement.
Representatives represented by SAG-AFTRA joined the picket line in July in a separate, ongoing dispute.
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