Hollywood's writers union says it has reached a preliminary labour agreement with the industry's major studios in a deal to end one of two strikes that have halted most film and television production for nearly five months. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced the deal on Sunday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that represents studios, streaming services and producers in negotiations. The three-year contract agreement – agreed to after five marathon days of renewed talks by negotiators WGA and the AMPTP – must still be approved by the guild's board and members before the strike can be declared officially over. The WGA, which represents 11,500 film and television writers, described the deal as "exceptional" with "meaningful gains and protections for writers". "This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days," the negotiating committee said in a statement.

Piers Morgan weighs in on the return of Bill Maher's'Real Time' amid writers strike on'One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.' After initially declaring his show would return amid the writers strike, talk show host Bill Maher announced Monday he has reversed that decision for the time being. "Real Time with Bill Maher's" 21st season was cut short after Hollywood writers went on strike in May. Writers are asking for higher pay, a guaranteed number of writers per room, better residuals and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the writing process in their list of demands. With no foreseeable end to the strike, Maher initially revealed that the show would return without writers and simply skip the segments that rely on writers.

Media mogul Barry Diller urged all parties to reach a resolution by September 1 amid ongoing Hollywood strikes during a Sunday interview on'Face the Nation.' Paramount CEO Barry Diller delivered a grim prediction for Hollywood on Sunday, warning that the industry is facing an "absolute collapse" if the Writers' and Screen Actors Guild joint strike extends into the fall. "What will happen is, if in fact, it doesn't get settled until Christmas or so, then next year, there's not going to be many programs for anybody to watch. So, you're gonna see subscriptions get pulled, which is going to reduce the revenue of all these movie companies, television companies, the result of which is that there will be no programs," Diller said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. "And at just the time, [the] strike is settled that you want to get back up, there won't be enough money."

People in Texas sounded off on AI job displacement, with half of people who spoke to Fox News convinced that the tech will rob them of work. With new developments in generative artificial intelligence bringing the technology to the forefront of public conversation, concerns about how it will affect jobs in the entertainment industry have risen, even contributing in a writer strike in Hollywood. But, founders of Web3 animation studio Toonstar have been using artificial intelligence in their studio for years, and told Fox News Digital it serves as an aid in the creative process. AI can "unlock creativity" and give animators a "head start" in terms of creativity, Luisa Huang, COO and co-founder of Toonstar told Fox News Digital. "But I have yet to see AI be able to put output anything … that is ready for production," she added.

The last time the Writers Guild of America went on strike, in 2007, workers pushed back against the nascent streaming industry, advocating for higher residual payments for content released over streaming. Now a new technology, artificial intelligence, stands to drastically change Hollywood again as Guild strikers return to the picket line. Streaming giants like Hulu, Netflix, and Disney have come to dominate the industry, changing the models by which content is produced and distributed and making it increasingly difficult for writers to earn a sustainable income. And as artificial intelligence technology rapidly improves, the WGA aims to place limits on the use of AI in movies and TV scripts. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) --which is negotiating the contract on behalf of Hollywood studios, streamers, and production companies--say their priority is "the long-term health and stability of the industry" and they are dedicated to reaching "a fair and reasonable agreement" according to the Associated Press.