Hollywood Writers Strike Is Over: WGA Votes to Lift Strike Order After 148 Days

The nearly five-month Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike that shut Hollywood down will reportedly come to a close at midnight now a new deal has been reached.

The WGA announced on Tuesday the strike will officially end at 12:01 a.m. PT now the union leadership authorized its 11,500 members to return to work.

“Tasks that for months were prohibited by strike rules — pitching, selling scripts, taking meetings, responding to notes — will then be sanctioned, while writers’ rooms can reconvene,” according to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

The WGA negotiating committee said this new deal “allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.”

Union members will still need to vote to ratify the contract between October 2 and October 9 before the contract becomes official for the next three years. Per THR:

With top leaders in the room, the studios made changes to their position on issues like minimum staffing in television writers’ rooms and rewarding writers for the success of projects on streaming. Regulations on artificial intelligence proved to be a lasting sticking point, but the two sides eventually came to a compromise by Sunday night. In its communication to members about the agreement on Sunday, the WGA called the resulting agreement “exceptional.”

Despite a deal being reached, Hollywood may still continue to be on shutdown so long as the SAG-AFTRA continues its ongoing strike, which launched in July, a little over two months after the WGA.

Anyone else ready for the Hollywood strikes to never end? https://t.co/yl6RiAeECv

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“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,” SAG-AFTRA 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. Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue 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.”

Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.