Contract deal brings tears of joy to Hollywood writers, and relief to a city scarred by strikes

Hollywood writers expressed joy, exhaustion and gratitude Sunday night after the Writers Guild of America and the major studios finally reached a tentative agreement that would end a monthslong strike.

The scribes behind "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Gotham," "Chicago Fire," "Abbott Elementary" and other titles were quick to celebrate on social media. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom weighed in, and at least one rabbi interrupted her service to share the latest news in a strike that sent devastating ripples across the regional economy.

But perhaps the biggest sigh of relief Sunday night came from the writers themselves.

"No, I'm really crying right now," Alex Zaragoza of Freevee's "Primo" posted on X. "This strike has been so hard. Necessary and invigorating, and really f— hard. But we did it! We fought together. We didn't take any s— together."

Later, in a reference to her guild's negotiating committee, she added: "Thank you, wholeheartedly, to our Negcom team. Unions forever. WGA forever."

Sal Calleros — a writer, executive producer and WGA strike captain known for FX's "Snowfall" and ABC's "The Good Doctor" — told The Times that he hopes the tentative deal between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will improve the lives of the next generation of writers.

"This was about the people who I mentor," Calleros said Sunday.

"This was for the folks who are coming up behind me — that they have the opportunity to make a living. ... So if we reached a good agreement on those big areas concerning residuals, AI, the number of writers in the room ... then the folks behind us will then have a shot to make this an actual career."

Calleros also gave a shout-out to all the allies who brought food to the picket lines, honked their car horns and amplified the WGA's message.

"All of that just fueled us," Calleros said. "Honestly, I was there for the last strike, and the energy that we experienced this time around was not present back then. This was a very different ballgame. And I think it's gonna be a very different ballgame moving forward as well."

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