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.



John Ashton, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Actor, Dies at 76

John Ashton arrives at the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" on June 20, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
John Ashton arrives at the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" on June 20, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
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John Ashton, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Actor, Dies at 76

John Ashton arrives at the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" on June 20, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
John Ashton arrives at the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" on June 20, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)

John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, has died. He was 76.

Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released by Ashton's manager, Alan Somers, on Sunday. No cause of death was immediately available.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ashton was a regular face across TV series and films, including "Midnight Run,” “Little Big League” and “Gone Baby Gone.”

But in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, Ashton played an essential part of an indelible trio. Though Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley, a Detroit detective following a case in Los Angeles, was the lead, the two local detectives — Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Ashton's Taggart — were Axel's sometimes reluctant, sometimes eager collaborators.

Of the three, Taggart — “Sarge” to Billy — was the more fearful, by-the-book detective. But he would regularly be coaxed into Axel's plans. Ashton co-starred in the first two films, beginning with the 1984 original, and returned for the Netflix reboot, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F," released earlier this year.

Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest's 1988 buddy comedy “Midnight Run.” He was the rival bounty hunter also pursuing Charles Grodin's wanted accountant in “The Duke" while he's in the custody of Robert De Niro's Jack Walsh.

Ashton is survived by his wife, Robin Hoye, of 24 years, two children, three stepchildren, a grandson, two sisters and a brother.