The writer’s strike officially came to an end at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 27 after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) West and East voted to end the strike, which allows writers to return to work.

This was announced on Sept. 26 after the WGA agreed to a tentative deal involving the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The deal was reached after a five-day talk between the union and the studios. The tentative deal will last until 2026, with all of the union’s conditions being met. 

The union made a memorandum of agreement which includes the full text of new provisions. The memorandum included the new agreements and conditions the union wanted for its members. This includes increased health and pension contributions rising from 11.5% to 12%. The guild also seeks to add an additional 0.5% in the second and third years of the contract.

The guild also asked for regulation on the use of artificial intelligence in the writer’s room. The Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) covered various things when it came to AI. This includes that AI will not be considered source material under the MBA and cannot be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separate rights. A writer does have the choice to use AI as a writing service if the company consents and the usage follows policy, but the company cannot require the writer to use AI.

Companies must also disclose to writers if any given materials have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material. This also means that training AI using a writer’s original material is prohibited by the MBA.

Writers also received improved terms of employment. This includes a guarantee when a writer is hired for a first draft of a screenplay and an accelerated payment structure for flat deals, which is when screenwriters hired on a flat deal basis must be paid 50% of their fee on commencement. Twenty-five percent of this is due on delivery of step, while the other 25% is payable upon invoice. 

The area in which the strike was most focused was streaming. Most of the MBA from the guild focused on streaming companies, income from streaming and data transparency when it comes to this online service. They sought increased residuals for high-budget subscription videos on demand as well as bonuses when series and films are viewed by 20% or more of the subscribers in the first 90 days of release. 

Although the writer’s strike has officially ended, the industry is still in trouble as the actor’s strike persists and seeks similar conditions as the writer’s strike. 

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