In a down to the wire bargaining session, the Writers Guild of America negotiating committee reached agreement with the studios on a new three-year deal. This was unanimously approved by the governing boards of the WGA West and East and will go to the membership for likely ratification later this month. The pact averts what was widely seen pre-COVID as the very real possibility of a writers strike.
The terms track gains previously won by the Directors Guild and the Screen Actors Guild, including substantial increases in residuals for high-budget streaming programs on subscription services like Netflix. The union negotiators were also able to obtain concessions that are of special concern to writers facing a world in which a typical series season is more likely to be eight or ten episodes than 22. The new contract will set limits on the length of time that a writer can be held under off the market under an exclusive option after completing work on a short season. It also sets a threshold minimum that writers must earn over the course of a season when they are paid on an episodic basis.
Hollywood is breathing a sigh of relief that these rocky negotiations are concluded. The town faces many challenges ahead as productions struggle to restart in the face of the pandemic. Labor unrest is one less obstacle on that path.