After months of blank pages, protests and more, the negotiation between writers and studios has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract. The strike started May 2 and finally came to a close on September 27. 

The strike began due to writers’ demand for fair wages, mandatory staffing of TV writers rooms, as well as safeguards for their jobs against the usage of artificial intelligence (AI). 

Jay Dennis, a senior creative writing major and a social justice minor, said they find the terms of the agreement “extremely liberating” as someone who wants  to be a writer in “many forms of media.”

“I tend to be pushed by family and those outside my situation to switch majors because of the ‘starving artist’ lifestyle and how often multi-billion dollar companies get away with exploiting the very people that make them money, ” Dennis said. 

Dennis said that this new deal is going to change the very idea of how workers, creative and non-creative alike, will come together to create more effective work conditions for themselves.

Alex Zahniser, a junior broadcast production major and screen writing minor, said he is happy with the agreement. 

“It’s good to see that people will be receiving more pay,” Zahniser said. “People put a lot of work into what they write and deserve to be well compensated for it. I’m hoping that reaching this agreement means that the industry is more willing to listen to its writers and work with them to solve issues.”

Many projects that were put on hold during the strike are set to resume production. However, there still could be some further setbacks because of the ongoing actor’s strike.