After a five-month-long battle, The Writers Guild of America (WGA) reached an agreement with studio executives last Tuesday. However, members of SAG-AFTRA and supporters are still on strike for increased wages and improved working conditions.
Some people think WGA’s advancement could foreshadow victory for SAG-AFTRA members.
Network shows are expected to return to air as soon as possible. Shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, which returned Monday night after a five-month hiatus, have resumed after a contract agreement. The writers will continue to vote to ratify the contract in early October as they begin filming late-night shows and live shows.
The three-year agreement deal consisted of deals amongst wages, employment duration, staff sizes and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence. Per the Associated Press, the WGA union and studios compromised to a 3.5% to 5% raise in pay and residual earnings.
After this monumental agreement, the attempts of SAG-AFTRA members may come to fruition.
“We’re optimistic because when we first sat down with the AMPTP, they told us the same thing they told the WGA, which is that they wouldn’t budge on a variety of deal points,” said Brendan Bradley, a participant of the SAG-AFTRA strike. “And now we see that they came pretty much exactly to the middle on those deal points.”
The heart of the acting community has revealed itself throughout the protests with individuals from all paths of life standing in solidarity with actors.
“For me, the most important part is to show solidarity within because we all have the love for the arts, and that’s a universal thing,” said actor Rasmus Hammerich. “And I think that is the most important part. We might compete for roles we might compete for, but we’re united in a love for the arts.”
The strikes not only set a precedent for current workers in the film industry but for aspiring people as well. The accomplishments undertaken now impact the future of the film industry forever.
“We thought it’d be an interesting experience because we’ve never been on picket lines before,” said Daniel Crawford, a film student at Loyola Marymount University. “Yeah, it’s kind of to check out the scene and maybe join in. And hopefully when we get out of film school then terms are better.”