WGA deal details revealed
The Writers Guild published key elements of its new four‑year contract, including fresh funding and explicit language on AI usage. The brief lists a $321 million infusion into the guild’s health plan, higher residuals and new AI licensing terms that formally put machine‑assistance on the bargaining table. (hollywoodreporter.com)
Hollywood writers just got a contract built around a problem most viewers never see: their health plan lost $122 million across 2023 and 2024 while film and television work shrank. The new four-year deal answers that first, with studios and streamers putting in $321 million to keep the plan afloat. (hollywoodreporter.com) The deal runs from May 2, 2026 to May 1, 2030, which is longer than the three-year pattern Hollywood unions usually follow. The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached it on April 4, and union members are scheduled to vote on ratification from April 16 through April 24. (wga.org) (hollywoodreporter.com) The health-plan fix is not just one big check. The contract raises the cap on writer earnings that trigger health contributions, with the cap for screen projects climbing from $250,000 to $400,000 by May 2, 2028, and it also lifts the contribution rate on reported earnings to 16.75 percent by the second year. (hollywoodreporter.com) Writers are also giving something up to stabilize the plan. The agreement moves $25 million from the union’s paid parental leave fund into the health fund, while guild leaders told members the parental leave fund will still have enough money to keep paying benefits. (hollywoodreporter.com) Pay goes up too, but in a steadier way than the health rescue. Most minimum rates rise by 1.5 percent in the first year and 3 percent in each of the next three years, which adds up to a 10.5 percent increase over the life of the contract. (variety.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) Streaming residuals move again, which is the payment writers get when a show keeps generating value after the first check is gone. The bonus for the most-watched streaming titles rises from 50 percent of the base residual to 75 percent. (variety.com) (wga.org) The artificial-intelligence piece is narrower than some writers wanted, but it is more concrete than before. Studios agreed to notify the guild if they license writers’ work for artificial-intelligence training and to keep meeting with the guild about how they use those systems. (variety.com) That sits on top of the 2023 rules, which already said artificial intelligence cannot count as a writer, artificial-intelligence text cannot be treated as source material in the usual way, and companies cannot require a writer to use tools like ChatGPT. Companies also have to tell writers if material handed to them was generated by artificial intelligence. (wga.org) One thing did not change much: the guild did not win a contract rule that forces studios to pay writers when scripts are used to train artificial-intelligence systems. Variety reported that compensation for training was a union demand, but the final deal landed on notice and discussion instead of a mandatory payment formula. (variety.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) The contract also keeps one of the biggest gains from the 2023 strike: limits on the return of tiny pre-greenlight writers’ rooms that studios used to run for just a few weeks. The producers wanted more room for four-week “mini rooms,” and the guild held the 2023 staffing rules in place. (variety.com) So the shape of this deal is pretty clear. The Writers Guild spent its leverage on keeping health coverage alive, nudging streaming pay higher, and making sure artificial intelligence is no longer a side conversation but a named subject inside the contract itself. (hollywoodreporter.com) (wga.org)
