By: Kelly Townsend

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has finally come to an end after 148 days.

It was officially called off today at 12:01 a.m. PT after the WGA negotiating committee, WGA West board and WGA East council unanimously voted to recommend the tentative agreement reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to their members.

This tentative agreement was reached on Monday, September 25, following several days of negotiation between both parties. WGA members will now take part in a ratification vote to be held from October 2 to 9.

The WGA has published details of the agreement, which it says offers “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every segment of the membership.”

These wins include a number of gains in compensation, including an increase in most minimums and a streaming residual structure based on viewership for high-budget programs on SVOD platforms. The deal also establishes a weekly rate tier for writer-producers (considered co-producer or above) and minimum staffing levels for post-greenlight rooms based on the number of episodes ordered.

The WGA and the AMPTP have also agreed on regulations for the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Among these rules: AI cannot “write or rewrite literary material,” and AI-generated works “can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.”

Additionally, companies must disclose if a writer has been given any AI-generated material. They cannot require a writer to use AI software, and the guild “reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law.”

The WGA estimates that the agreement with the AMPTP is valued at US$233 million per year (nearly three times the value of AMPTP’s original proposal).

A version of this story originally appeared in Kidscreen Daily‘s sister publication Playback Daily. 

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images