WGA labels AMPTP’s proposal as ‘neither nothing, nor nearly enough’

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has provided further detail on the recent counteroffer from The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), describing it as “neither nothing, nor nearly enough”.

On minimum staffing for premium streaming projects, the AMPTP proposed two writers to be employed in addition to the showrunner for 20 consecutive weeks in a writers room.

The WGA said the offer had “introduced the notion of an MBA (Minimum Basic Agreement) guarantee of minimum staff size and duration” but added that “loopholes, limitations, and omissions in their modest proposal” made them “effectively toothless”.

WGA on AI, veiwing data & residuals

On artificial intelligence (AI), the WGA noted that it had had “real discussions and seen movement” with the AMPTP, but added that “we are not yet where we need to be.”

The AMPTP said that material from generative AI (GAI) would not be considered as having come from a “person” within the terms of the MBA, meaning any “written material produced by GAI will not be considered literary material under this or any prior MBA.”

But the WGA said the AMPTP “continue to refuse to regulate the use of our work to train AI to write new content for a motion picture,” using the example as just one area where the two sides are still apart.

Severance

Other shifts in position on key concerns around streaming viewing data have also been reported, with the AMPTP offering six WGA staff members access to study limited streaming viewership data for the next three years.

They could then create a proposal about residuals when the next MBA agreement is struck in 2026, but the WGA said the proposal would delay any improvement.

“In the meantime, no writer can be told by the WGA about how well their project is doing, much less receive a residual based on that data,” the WGA said.

Ongoing turmoil

The response from the writers guild comes three days after it hit out at the AMPTP for trying “not to bargain, but to jam us” as the strike enters its 116th day.

The AMPTP had earlier revealed its offer – first put forward on 11 August but only made public earlier this week – to the WGA, with the studio and streamer union president Carol Lombardini describing the “comprehensive package” as meeting “the priority concerns” of writers.

However, the WGA said earlier this week that the overal package “failed to sufficiently protect writers”, while the decision by the AMPTP to make its offer public has raised eyebrows as a potential attempt to induce pressure on writers.

The WGA had warned its members earlier this month to ignore news reports leaked from AMPTP members that a deal was likely, highlighting studio “management using the media or industry surrogates to try to influence the narrative.”

The WGA has been on strike since 2 May, with actor’s union SAG-AFTRA also halting work last month, bringing Hollywood productions to a standstill.

Severance and Omnivore producer Fifth Season this week revealed it is cutting around 12% of its workforce, blaming the downsizing on the impasse between producers and the US writers and actor unions.