The negotiating body representing Hollywood studios and streamers against striking writers let slip their strategy. They will refuse talks until October in the hopes that it will force writers back to work or lose their homes: "Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention," says a top-tier producer close to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, as reported by Deadline News.
While some dismiss this as just "cynical strike talk," studio and streamer sources around town confirm the strategy. They also confirm that the plan to grind down the guild has long been in the works for a labor cycle that all sides agree is a game-changer one way or another for Hollywood.
"It's been agreed to for months, even before the WGA went out," one executive said. "Nobody wanted a strike, but everybody knew this was make or break."
The threat of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) would complicate negotiations, according to sources, but not change the fundamental strategy. To "grind down the guild has long been in the works."
The DGA (Director's Guild of America) has signed a deal already, SAG is still negotiating, but the WGA is being targeted for the harshest treatment in what "all sides agree is a game-changer one way or another for Hollywood."
