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Hi! I’m Sunny, a journalist here at The Daily Aus and today, I have the joy of taking over the weekend newsletter from Tom.

This week, entertainment lovers around the world let out a sigh of relief after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) officially called an end to their 148-day strike thanks to an “exceptional” agreement with Hollywood studios.

But whilst it’s a win for the writers, the union for actors is still on strike.

So, how did we get here? And what does this mean for our favourite shows and films?

On 2 May, the WGA voted to enter a rare strike following unsuccessful contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The AMPTP represents major film and television studios, including Amazon, Apple, NBC, Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Brothers.

The 11,500 screenwriters and media writers covered by the union said their pay had stagnated in the face of shorter seasons and smaller ‘residual’ payments, despite a growing demand for new content.

Years ago, writers would contribute to over 20 episodes a season and then receive consistent additional payments - residuals - whenever those episodes were rerun on TV or released on DVD. They say this has all been upended by streaming services.

The WGA was also concerned about the risks posed by artificial intelligence.

It was the first time in 15 years that a breakdown of negotiations between the two groups had resulted in a strike.

Several topical daytime and late-night talk shows, like The Talk, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, were immediately suspended after the WGA voted to enter a strike.

Many of these shows receive scripts from their writers’ room hours before they record. As a result, many had no choice but to air repeats of previous episodes until the strike was resolved.

Fortunately, many streaming platforms already had a whole lineup of shows banked, so we weren’t entirely without new content.

On 14 July, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) joined the WGA on strike after failing to reach their own deals over pay and working conditions with the AMPTP.

So, what does the final agreement look like? Here are some key takeaways.

Firstly, workers will receive annual minimum pay increases of 5%, 4%, and 3.5% over the course of the three-year contract. A minimum of three writer-producers must be employed in writers' rooms and guaranteed at least 10 consecutive weeks of employment.

Writers will also no longer split employee benefits with their colleagues, receiving an individual contribution of at least 12% to their health funds from their employer.

As for residuals? The agreement introduces "viewership-based residuals" to award bonuses to the workers behind content that performs well with U.S. subscribers.

Writers involved in projects that reach a certain viewership threshold in their first 90 days of release will receive extra compensation (valued at 50% of their fixed residual rate).

Residual payments for content viewed by a streamer's overseas subscribers will also increase by 76%.

There were also some solid safeguards introduced around artificial intelligence. The AMPTP agreed that AI cannot produce or edit written material. Writers can voluntarily use AI software, but studios cannot mandate its use. Using writers' material to train AI is also prohibited.

Members of the WGA will now vote on the agreement over the next week – and it’s expected the members will vote in its favour. We should find this out in the first few weeks of October.

As for what comes next, scripted shows that were in the writing phase of production pre-strike in May (or were scheduled to be shortly after) will be able to get up and running shortly.

This doesn’t mean that we will be seeing new scripted shows on our TVs imminently though, as the delays will be felt through the entirety of the pipeline. We’ll probably see many channels continuing to rely on unscripted reality TV shows that could be produced without writers during the strike.

There’s also the fact that actors are still on strike, which means that even if the writing rooms conclude, there will be delays with performers.

But the most important thing to note is that we’re finally one step closer to watching the next seasons of Stranger Things, The White Lotus, and Euphoria. And I, for one, must know whether Rue intends to run that scary woman her drug money or not because it’s keeping me up at night!

Sadly, I didn’t go on a holiday somewhere warm this year. Instead, I chose to spend my time looking at photos of other people somewhere warm. I don’t recommend it.

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