Hollywood Studios Release Details of New Proposal to Striking Writers 

SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers walk the picket line during their ongoing strike outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, US, August 22, 2023. (Reuters)
SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers walk the picket line during their ongoing strike outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, US, August 22, 2023. (Reuters)
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Hollywood Studios Release Details of New Proposal to Striking Writers 

SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers walk the picket line during their ongoing strike outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, US, August 22, 2023. (Reuters)
SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers walk the picket line during their ongoing strike outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, US, August 22, 2023. (Reuters)

Hollywood studios and streaming services on Tuesday released the terms of a revised proposal to writers in a bid to end one of two strikes that have halted production and cost the California economy billions of dollars.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of companies including Walt Disney and Netflix, changed its offer to include new details about critical issues like compensation, minimum staffing, residual payments and curbs on artificial intelligence.

According to the latest proposal, the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) will get a compounded 13% pay increase over the three-year contract, and AI-generated written content will not be considered "literary material".

The streaming platforms also offered to provide the WGA with the total number of hours viewed for each made-for-streaming show in confidential quarterly reports.

"We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed. We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution," AMPTP President Carol Lombardini said in a statement.

A WGA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The WGA, which represents around 11,500 film and television writers, walked off the job on May 2 after negotiations reached an impasse over compensation, minimum staffing of writers' rooms and residual payments in the streaming era, among other issues.

They were joined on the picket lines on July 14 by members of the Screen Actors Guild, effectively halting much of US film and scripted television production.



Doctor Charged in Connection with Matthew Perry’s Death Is Expected to Plead Guilty

Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP)
Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP)
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Doctor Charged in Connection with Matthew Perry’s Death Is Expected to Plead Guilty

Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP)
Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP)

One of two doctors charged in the investigation of the death of Matthew Perry is expected to plead guilty Wednesday in a federal court in Los Angeles to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the “Friends” star’s fatal overdose last year.

Prosecutors offered lesser charges to Chavez and two others in exchange for their cooperation as they go after two targets they deem more responsible for the overdose death: another doctor and an alleged dealer that they say was known as “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles.

Chavez is free on bond after turning over his passport and surrendering his medical license, among other conditions.

His lawyer Matthew Binninger said after Chavez’s first court appearance on Aug. 30 that he is “incredibly remorseful” and is “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here.”

Also working with federal prosecutors are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.

The three are helping prosecutors in their prosecution of Dr. Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.

After a guilty plea, he could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.

Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28. The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.

Perry began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him. About a month before the actor’s death, he found Plasencia, who in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to.”

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit sitcom.