>>> HOLLYWOOD IS BACK IN BUSINESS ALMOST.

THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA WORKERS REACHED A TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH THE ALLIANCE OF MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION PRODUCERS ENDING A 146 DAYS STRIKE THAT REVERBERATED RIGHT BACK HERE IN CHICAGO.

NOW EYES ARE ON THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AND THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TELEVISION AND RADIO ARTISTS WORKERS WHO ARE STILL NEGOTIATING THEIR CONTRACTS JOINING US IS A NATIONAL BOARD MEMBER FOR SAG, AND ACTOR.

WE HAVE A BUSINESS MANAGER AND SECRETARY-TREASURER WITH LOCAL 476 AND A STRAIGHT CAPTAIN WITH WGA AND A WRITER, PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR.

AND THAT IS AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY.

WE ALSO REACHED OUT TO AMMTT.

WE DID NOT GET A RESPONSE.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS TENTATIVE AGREEMENT HERE?

>> WE ARE FEELING PRETTY EXCITED.

OF COURSE WE HAVE NOT SEEN ALL THE DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENT YET.

I THINK THE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE BUILT UP A LOT OF GOODWILL AND TRUST AMONG THE MEMBERS.

SO THIS DEAL MAKES US FEEL VERY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE.

>> WHAT YOU THINK IT CAME DOWN TO NOW AFTER 146 DAYS?

>> I THINK IT IS BECAUSE OF THE 146 DAYS.

I THINK IT BECAME CLEAR TO THE CEOS THAT THE WRITERS SOLIDARITY WAS STRONG AND WILL BE BROKEN OR ERODED IN ANY WAY AND I THINK IT IS BECAUSE OF THE SOLIDARITY BETWEEN UNIONS AND THE WRITERS GUILD AND SAG.

AND AFFECTING ALL THESE UNIONS AND WORKERS AND THEY CAME TOGETHER TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER AND I THINK EVENTUALLY, THEY REALIZED THAT THIS WAS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD AND THEY HAD TO GET SETTLED.

>> WE HAVE TWO MEMBERS OF THE OTHER UNIONS.

YOU HAVE YOUR OWN CONTRACT ISSUES OUT RIGHT NOW WITH SAG.

DOES THIS GIVE YOUR UNION MOMENTUM?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

IT GIVES US MOMENTUM.

AND WE ARE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC AS WELL.

WE HAVE BEEN ON STRIKE SINCE JULY.

AND WE HAVE NOT SEEN THE DEAL YET BUT WE HAVE SOME SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BECAUSE WRITERS NEED DIFFERENT THINGS AND ACTORS AND I'M HOPING WE CAN GET BACK TO THE TABLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

>> AND CHICAGO, THERE ARE ALL OF THESE PRODUCTIONS.

CHICAGO FIRE AND CHICAGO PD.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF YOUR WORKERS DURING THIS PERIOD?

>> IT WAS ON MAY 13TH WHEN I GOT CALLED TO THE SET.

THE TEAMSTERS WERE LEAVING THEIR VEHICLES.

THE WGA SET UP THE STRIKE LINE, THE PICKET LINE.

AND THE MEMBERS OF LOCAL 476 STOOD WITH THEM.

WE ARE UNIFIED AND WE KNOW THAT IT IS GOING TO TAKE A GROUP EFFORT AND WE KNOW THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND WE FEEL LIKE THERE HAS TO BE SOME MOVEMENT WITH INFLATION AND EVERYTHING WE ARE FACED WITH.

AND WE NEEDED TO STAND TOGETHER TO MAKE THAT POINT.

AND WE HAVE DONE THAT.

>> I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO GET INTO SPECIFICS UNTIL THIS IS RATIFIED OR VOTED ON, BUT SO MUCH WAS TALKED ABOUT WITH AI AND HOW MUCH LEEWAY THE STUDIOS WOULD GET WITH AI AND FEARS THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE NOT JUST WRITERS BUT ACTORS.

WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THOSE CONCERNS RIGHT NOW?

>> I CAN SAY THAT WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THE STRIKE, WE HAD A NUMBER OF CORE CONCERNS.

FIVE OR SIX CORE CONCERNS WE BROUGHT TO THE STUDIO SAYING THAT THEY ARE EXISTENTIAL ISSUES NOT JUST FOR WRITERS BUT FOR ACTORS ABOUT THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE INDUSTRY AND THE PROFESSION.

AT FIRST, THEY REFUSED TO NEGOTIATE ON OVER HALF OF THOSE CORE ISSUES.

THEY SAID THAT THEY ARE NONSTARTER'S AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THEM.

NOW 146 DAYS LATER, WE ARE HEARING THAT WE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON EVERY ONE OF THE CORE ISSUES.

SO WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE THE DETAILS.

THE LAWYERS ARE WORKING ON THE LANGUAGE.

IN THE MEANTIME, I THINK WE CAN SAY THAT WE HAVE MADE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF PROGRESS.

AND I HOPE THAT WHATEVER PROGRESS THE WRITERS MADE, THE ACTORS AND TEAMSTERS CAN USE THIS AS ONE MORE STEP ALONG THE WAY OF BUILDING A WORKERS MOVEMENT IN THE INDUSTRY AND GET THE GAINS THAT EVERYBODY DESERVES.

>> REMIND US OF THE STICKING POINTS.

>> SAME WITH THE WGA IN TERMS OF WANTING TO KEEP UP WITH INFLATION AS WELL AS THE AI CONCERNS WE HAVE, NOT BEING REPLACED BY COMPUTERS.

WE ALSO HAVE SELF-PAY REGULATIONS WE ARE ASKING FOR AND STREAMING RESIDUALS IS ANOTHER ONE WE ARE ASKING FOR.

>> YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET BACK TO THE TABLE FOR NEGOTIATIONS.

CLEARLY, THIS IS MAYBE A STEP UP.

>> WE COULD GO BACK.

WE COULD HAVE GONE BACK THE DAY AFTER WE WENT ON STRIKE.

WE WERE READY AND WILLING TO.

THE AMPT INVITES US BACK AND WE ARE GLAD THEY INVITED US BACK AND NOW WE ARE JUST WAITING AGAIN UNTIL THEY INVITE US BACK TO THE TABLE.

>> HE TALKED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF SOLIDARITY WITH YOUR MEMBERS.

HOW DID YOU KEEP YOUR MEMBERS AFLOAT DURING THIS TIME?

THIS IS WORK THAT THEY DEPEND ON AT SOME OF THESE CHICAGO STUDIOS.

>> IT HAS BEEN A TOUGH RIDE FOR A LOT OF US.

THE INDIRECT IMPACT WITH THE COMMUNITY, JUST ON THE SERVICES THAT THE BUSINESS HAS REQUIRED FROM WITH PURCHASING AND RENTING.

BUT THE MEMBERS OF LOCAL 476 HAVE HAD TO FIND ANOTHER MEANS TO MAKE ENDS MEET.

YOU FALL OFF COVERAGE.

YOU FALL OFF CONTRIBUTIONS.

WE ARE DOING EVERY THING POSSIBLE.

WE HAVE FOOD DRIVES TODAY.

THE NEWS YESTERDAY WITH THE WGA, A GOOD EVENT.

AND WE ARE SETTING UP HARDSHIP FUNDS FOR THE LOCAL AND COMMUNITY FUNDS.

AND ALSO, LETTING THE MEMBERS GO INTO THE RETIREMENT IF THEY HAVE TO, TO GET THROUGH THE ROUGH TIMES.

>> THE ACTORS AND WRITERS KNOW THERE WILL BE PERIODS OR PERHAPS THEY ARE OUT OF WORK.

HOW MUCH MORE DIFFICULT WAS THIS?

>> IT HAS BEEN TOUGH.

PUT YOUR FINGER ON IT AND THERE IS A DARK CHOKE ABOUT HOW THE STUDIOS SPENT THE LAST TIME TRADING WRITERS AND ACTORS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GO SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR WITHOUT WORKING.

IN SO MANY CASES, THEY HAVE TRANSFORMED THE WORK INTO THIS KIND OF GIG ECONOMY MODEL WHERE THEY CAN HIRE WRITERS AND THEN LEAVE THEM LOOKING FOR THE NEXT JOB.

SO WRITERS ARE USED TO SPENDING TIME NOT WORKING.

AND WE DO HAVE TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS.

AS TONY WAS SAYING, WE KNOW IT HAS BEEN HARD FOR THE UNIONS AND WE ARE DETERMINED TO BE THERE FOR THEM WHEN THEY HAVE THEIR OWN LABOR ACTIONS AND WE APPRECIATE THE SOLIDARITY THEY HAVE SHOWN US.

>> SAME QUESTION FOR YOU, COURTNEY.

HOW ARE YOU KEEPING YOUR MEMBERS AFLOAT.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC MIGHT SAY ACTORS AND CELEBRITIES MAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND THE MOST OF THEM ARE WORKING CLASS IT.

THERE ARE ABOUT 1% IN THE UNIT THAT ARE CELEBRITIES MAKING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

THE REST OF THEM ARE -- SOME OF US ARE OUT OF WORK.

EVEN NOT ON STRIKE.

AND I THINK IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT WE ARE ALL IN SOLIDARITY TOGETHER BECAUSE IT IS A THREAT TO THE EXISTENCE OF ALL OF US AS WORKERS.

IF THERE ARE NO ACTORS, THERE IS NOBODY TO DO THE HAIR AND MAKEUP.

THE REPLACEMENT OF US FROM AI HURTS TEAMSTERS AS WELL.

THERE WILL BE NO VANS TO DRIVE US AROUND.

>> TO THINK PRODUCTION WILL GO UP ASSUMING THIS GETS RATIFIED?

>> SMOKE SIGNALS ARE GOOD.

WE ARE GETTING A LOT OF CALLS FROM PRODUCERS.

THEY ARE REACHING OUT TO THE MEMBERS AND SEEING IF THOSE CREWS ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

WE ARE HOPING THAT TENTATIVE AGREEMENT SOONER THEN LATER.

AND IT COULD BE A COUPLE OF WEEKS.

THERE ARE SHOWS, PRODUCTIONS THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY START WORKING ON BEFORE THE WRITERS AND THE ACTORS HAVE TO GET INVOLVED.

SOME WILL BE RIGHT AWAY.

SOME WILL BE FOUR WEEKS.

SOME AS EARLY AS TWO WEEKS.

>> WHEN YOU THINK SOME OF THE WRITERS WOULD BE GOING BACK AND SUGGESTING THAT SOME OF THOSE LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOWS COME BACK AFTER THE STRIKE?

>> I THINK THAT IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

WE SEE THE DEAL.

WE HAVE TO VOTE FOR RATIFICATION.

THAT WOULD BE AN EASY PROCESS.

I THINK THE WRITERS START TO GO BACK TO WORK IN THE NEXT 10 DAYS, TWO WEEKS AND MAYBE EVEN EARLIER THAN THAT.

AND RIGHT AWAY, YOU SEE THE LATE-NIGHT SHOWS COME BACK WITH A DIFFERENT CONTRACT SO THAT THE WRITERS ARE READY TO GO.

AND I THINK IT WILL BE LIKE LANDING A LOT OF AIRPLANES AT THE SAME TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE PRODUCTION CAN START AND WHAT IS READY TO GO.

IT WILL BE COMPLICATED FOR A WHILE.

BUT I'M HOPEFUL THAT THE SAG ACTORS CAN GET THE DEAL THEY DESERVE AND THE INDUSTRY WILL BE BACK UP AND RUNNING IN THE FALL.

>> ARE YOU HOPEFUL THAT SAG ACTORS CAN GET THE DEAL?

>> AND VERY HOPEFUL.

>> WE WILL ANSWER ALL OF THIS.