WGA ‘Evaluating’ Date Options for Contract Talks With Major Studios

“Nothing has been worked out as of yet,” a spokesman for the Writers Guild of America said. “The guild is evaluating the situation.”

The WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are trying to come to terms on an extension date for the guild’s existing Minimum Basic Agreement that covers most film and TV work. The current pact is set to expire May 1. But given the upheaval to regular business brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the sides need more time to negotiate what is sure to be a tough and complex pact addressing compensation issues in a fast-changing content landscape.

Industry sources said the WGA initially reached out to the AMPTP with a proposed extension of the current MBA to Sept. 1. The AMPTP was said to be leaning toward June 30, a date that would line up the WGA’s contract terminus with that of SAG-AFTRA. The contract extension date would set in motion a new timeline for negotiations.

A representative for the AMPTP declined to comment.

More to come