The long-running strike that's brought Hollywood to a standstill could soon be over after the Writers Guild of America announced on Sunday that a tentative deal has been reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The Guild — representing over 11K writers in film and television — has been on strike for 145 days, demanding a fair share of the revenue from streaming services and protection from using artificial intelligence in their jobs.
The Hollywood strike, which had a terrible impact beyond the writers' and actors' lives, dragged on for nearly five months because of Hollywood studios' greed. However, the deal shows studios and streaming companies have finally acknowledged that the industry will be brought to a standstill if their profits and artificial intelligence take precedence over their creative talent.
Instead of holding the entertainment industry hostage over artificial intelligence and decimating local economies, Hollywood's writers and actors should have used the technology to supplement and improve their work. The unprecedented dual strikes could backfire and allow studios and streaming to eliminate the creatives from the artistic process for good.