LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters spent Thursday in talks that could potentially put an end to the that has brought many film and television .
The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry鈥檚 studios, streaming services and production companies, negotiated for a second full day at the latter organization's headquarters in Los Angeles.
Reports of progress heading into the day had observers watching the meeting closely, but there were no significant updates from inside the room Thursday.
Present at the negotiations were a including Disney鈥檚 Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery鈥檚 David Zaslav, Universal鈥檚 Donna Langley and Netflix鈥檚 Ted Sarandos.
On Wednesday night, CNBC reporter David Faber wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the writers and AMPTP were 鈥渘ear鈥� an agreement and 鈥渉ope to finalize the deal,鈥� according to his anonymous sources. He also said his sources warned that should the deal not close, the strike is likely to continue until the end of the year.
No other outlet has been able to corroborate Faber鈥檚 report. Deadline reported, however, that the first day of negotiations were 鈥渧ery encouraging.鈥� The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment to representatives for the AMPTP, the WGA and other entertainment companies.
The two sides have been , the size of writing staffs on shows and the in the creation of scripts. Actors, who , have their but there have been no discussions about resuming negotiations with their union yet.
The mood outside Netflix鈥檚 Hollywood headquarters was upbeat Thursday, with music blaring and drivers honking in support of the picketers.
Actor-writer-producer Justine Bateman, who starred in the 鈥�80s series 鈥淔amily Ties,鈥� said the key to making a deal was that the guild鈥檚 basic agreement offer the right terms to the new generation of writers.
鈥淭he point is not to have a resolution as much as to make sure that we have made a deal that protects us 鈥� writers in the minimum basic agreement,鈥� Bateman said, noting that she and other writers-producers had benefited from the terms of earlier contracts.
鈥淚t has to be a deal that makes this worth it,鈥� she said.
A previous attempt to with the writers fell flat. The two sides had a handful of meetings in mid-August, including one that included the heads of Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery.
But writers said that after exchanging contract proposals, 鈥渢hey were met with a lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was,鈥� and the talks trailed off.
The WGA strike is nearing record length. Should it continue through Sept. 30, it will be the longest in the union鈥檚 history and the longest Hollywood strike since 1945.
The Associated Press
