Screenwriters and the group representing big Hollywood studios are scheduled to resume talks about a new contract on Friday although neither side appears to be in a conciliatory mood.
The parties traded barbs this week, three months into a strike that has largely shut down film and TV production across the country.
The Writers Guild of America said earlier this week that the studios requested the meeting to discuss restarting talks. In a message to its members Thursday afternoon, the guild accused the companies of orchestrating a disinformation campaign, suggesting the work stoppage was good for them financially.
“They called guild leadership ‘out-of-touch,’” the message from the writers union read. “They waged a relentless campaign through the media and surrogates to spread dissent.”
The guild said that when the writers last struck, in 2007, talks resumed, only to fall apart again.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents big media companies such as Walt Disney Co. and Netflix Inc., fired back in its own message later on Thursday.
“Tomorrow’s discussion with the WGA is to determine whether we have a willing bargaining partner,” the studios said. The group called the writers guild’s rhetoric “unfortunate.”
The writers guild, which counts some 11,500 scribes as members, walked off the job on May 2. They’ve been seeking an 11% increase in their base pay, a share of revenue from streaming TV services and assurances they won’t be replaced by a new generation of artificial intelligence.
The 160,000 member Screen Actors Guild, making similar demands, went on strike last month. The twin strikes, which haven’t occurred stimulatenously in more than 40 years, have forced big media companies to rejigger their fall TV schedules and postpone new film releases. Actors aren’t allowed to promote their work while on strike.
