UPDATED: Contract talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers have wrapped for the day, and sources tell Deadline that the sides will return to the table Sunday. We hear that AMPTP negotiators will huddle together tomorrow, Saturday, for a meeting featuring reps for the companies before they head to a full-on negotiation session with the WGA on Sunday.
“This thing is going to go to the wire,” says a source close to the talks.
With the writers’ current deal set to expire at 12:01 AM on Tuesday, May 2, there’s talk that the sides are planning to keep at it Monday right up to the deadline if they can’t come to terms before then. Both sides have pledged to do everything in their power to avert a walkout, but the WGA leadership has received overwhelming strike authorization from the union’s members should it come to that.
Earlier today, the WGA posted a piece on its website headlined “The Cost of Settling is Reasonable,” in which the union said, “The undeniable truth is that these costs are very affordable for these profitable companies.”
Talks began March 13 but stalled after two weeks with each side accusing the other of walking away from the bargaining table. Bargaining resumed this week after a two-week hiatus to allow the WGA East and WGA West to poll their members on authorization. Meanwhile, broadcast TV execs are watching closely as the 2017 pilot season heads into its most crucial days.
