Screenwriters Resume Work After Nearly Five-Month Hiatus as Actors Anticipate Upcoming Negotiations

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Only hours following the official termination of Hollywood’s writer’s strike, Bill Maher was among the first to recommence work. He announced early on Wednesday that his HBO program, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” will be returning to television this coming Friday.

Maher took to social media to share, “My team of writers and ‘Real Time’ have returned. I’ll see you on Friday evening.”

On the preceding Tuesday, the board of the writers’ union ratified a contractual agreement with film and television studios. This move has partially revived an industry that had been enduring an unprecedented pause in production for almost five months.

During the strike period, Maher had postponed resuming his talk show, a stance that mirrored similar delays by programs such as “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “The Talk,” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”

The recent agreement has set the stage for late-night television programs to recommence work. These shows were among the first to feel the impact of the strike, with immediate suspensions of NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

However, the return of scripted series will require more time, given that actors are still on strike and negotiations for their contracts are yet to be initiated.

The three-year pact between the union and the studios, producers, and streaming services incorporates considerable gains in key areas that writers had been advocating for—salary, duration of employment, staff sizes, and governance over artificial intelligence. These gains either match or closely approximate the original demands made at the commencement of the strike.

In terms of financial compensation, the union had been pushing for a minimal escalation in both salaries and future residual earnings from shows. The ratified agreement grants writers a pay hike ranging from 3.5% to 5%, which exceeds the original offers from the studios.

Additionally, the guild secured innovative residual payments correlated with the popularity of shows on streaming platforms. Writers will now receive bonus payments for contributing to the most-watched shows on platforms like Netflix and Max, a stipulation initially dismissed by the studios. This addresses the grievances of many writers on the picket lines who felt they were inadequately compensated for their roles in creating highly-viewed shows.

With regard to artificial intelligence, the writers successfully negotiated for regulations and control over this burgeoning technology. According to the new agreement, AI-generated storylines will not qualify as “literary material,” as defined in their contracts for scripts and other narrative formats. Consequently, writers will not find themselves competing against machine-generated content for screen credits. Furthermore, AI-generated narratives will not be classified as “source” material—the contractual term for novels, video games, or other original works that may be adapted into scripts.

The agreement also stipulates that writers may elect to utilize AI in their creative processes, contingent on the approval of the company for which they work and other specific conditions. However, companies are prohibited from mandating writers to use artificial intelligence in their work.

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More about Hollywood screenwriters strike

• Hollywood Writers Strike Ends: A Comprehensive Overview
• The Implications of the New Contract for Hollywood Screenwriters
• Bill Maher Announces Return to Work
• The Impact of the Writers Strike on Late-Night Television
• Future of Artificial Intelligence in Screenwriting: What the New Contract Means
• Financial Terms of the New Writers Contract Explained
• The Ongoing Actors Strike: What’s Next?
• Streaming Services and Residual Payments: A New Paradigm
• The Drew Barrymore Show, The Talk, and The Jennifer Hudson Show: Production Pauses Reviewed