The union representing workers employed by the Writers Guild of America have reached an agreement on their first contract, ending a strike that lasted nearly three months.
The pending contract includes seniority and layoff protections, higher wages and outlines provisions for progressive discipline and a stepped grievance process, the Writers Guild Staff Union said in a statement Friday.
The union represents 116 members, who work in areas including legal, communications and residuals. They will vote on proposed contract in the coming days.
“Once ratified, the WGSU strike will end and Writers Guild staff will return to doing what we do best: defending the writers’ hard-fought gains and helping them build collective power,” the WGSU Bargaining Committee said in a statement.
WGA also said in a statement that they “are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement” with the union for its first collective bargaining agreement.
If ratified, members would see a minimum of 12% increases in pay for all Writers Guild staff over the course of the three year term. The salary floor would rise from $43,000 to $57,000. The staff would also see better protections against AI.
The strike began in February, weeks before the WGA was set to enter negotiations with the major studios, with the workers accusing their employer of bargaining in bad faith.
There is no doubt Manchester United have given Bruno Fernandes a push to get this award.
United have been playing up Fernandes’ claims and also ensured the Portugal playmaker was promoted through some recent media engagements.
However, this would have been pointless had Fernandes not delivered at a time in the season when United needed him to deliver.
In October, when Fernandes spoke about qualification for the Champions League, few thought it was likely.
In January, when technical director Jason Wilcox told the United squad that was the aim despite Ruben Amorim’s dismissal, it seemed a tall order.
That they have achieved it with three matches to spare and could yet end the campaign nearer in points terms to the eventual champions than in any other season since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement 13 years ago, owes a huge amount to Fernandes.
Since returning from a rare injury against Burnley, Sunday’s victory over Liverpool was only the third match out of 16 in all competitions when Fernandes has not either scored a goal or created one.
His performances across the season have been consistently high and worthy of wider recognition.
Twelve months ago, when the debate over Fernandes’ United future raged, the question being asked was simply this: where would they be without him? The suspicion was they would have been much closer to relegation than they actually were.
The same could be asked now. The answer? They surely would not be looking forward to a Champions League return.
Members of the Writers Guild of America have officially ratified their newest contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
More than 90% of the 11,000 voting members in both WGA East and West registered their support of the new agreement. The voting period closed Friday at noon, after the union first struck a tentative deal earlier this month.
The new contract includes a robust healthcare plan in which studios pay over $320 million to sustain the health fund, higher residual rates — including a provision for a “success bonus” for the most popular streaming shows from 50% of the base residual to 75% — and language on the licensing of work for AI training.
“The first reaction [from members] was relief that we were not going to be going into a period of labor strife or strike authorization vote, in the midst of this contraction,” said John August, the co-chair of WGA’s negotiating committee, referring to the ongoing challenges in the industry. “Members want to work, and they want to get back to doing their job.”
Negotiations between the union and film and TV studios began in March, as the union’s current contract expires May 1. August said that, at the beginning of the negotiations, expanding the healthcare plan was a top priority. The union was able to secure increases that would raise the cap that companies pay to as high as $400,000 by 2028.
Union officials say the current cap has remained unchanged for two decades as healthcare contributions have steadily declined because there are fewer working writers.
But under the new contract, members would, for the first time, have to start contributing to their healthcare costs to the tune of $75 per month. The earnings threshold to get coverage would increase by about $7,000 to $53,773, leaving many members concerned about the higher cost.
“This is all difficult. Healthcare in America is not a good situation. But we were really mindful, as we always are, of trying to make sure the career of writing is sustainable,” negotiating committee co-chair Danielle Sanchez-Witzel said.
Additionally, the contract terms have been extended from the WGA’s usual three years to four — though it is not the first time the guild has added more time to its deal with the studios. Sanchez-Witzel clarified that the four-year period for the new contract ”is, by no means, a standard. This is just what we needed this year and what we agreed to for this cycle.”
“We were here in 2026 trying to get some things that we didn’t get earlier [in previous negotiation cycles] and happy for the progress we made,” she said.
The WGA is the first of the Hollywood unions to strike a deal with the studios. AMPTP congratulated the WGA on the ratification in a statement released shortly after the vote totals were announced.
“This deal reflects a collaborative approach that supports both writers and the industry’s long-term stability,” AMPTP said.
SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America still need to negotiate new contracts.
AFTER the whirlwind success of No1 hit Stick Season, Noah Kahan didn’t rush back into the studio.
In fact, he stopped completely. Facing writer’s block and still processing everything that had happened, he stepped away for six months, forced to rethink not just the music, but what success meant.
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Noah Kahan is back with a new album, The Great DivideCredit: Patrick McCormackNoah’s 2022 album Stick Season sold over four million copies and had billions of global streamsCredit: Stephen Keable
His 2022 album Stick Season — rooted in Vermont and exploring mental health, identity and small-town life — transformed the singer from a cult folk artist into a global name.
Topping the charts in the UK, the record was also certified multi-platinum in the US, where it sold over four million copies and had billions of global streams.
Kahan was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist and the emotionally raw, nostalgic and deeply personal record was widely seen as one of the defining albums of the decade.
“I just couldn’t write for a while,” he confesses. “When I first got off the road, I didn’t make any music in a long time.
“I spent months not doing anything and it was painful because I like to be busy.
“It took so much strength for me to push that feeling away.
“I’m aware of how rare the moment was, how big the moment was and how lucky and fortunate I was, but my whole life I was trying to prove to people that I had a place here. So when the huge moment was happening, instead of being like, ‘Yeah, I made it’, I was like, ‘Oh my god, how am I going to stay here?’.”
That pressure quickly took its toll. Kahan said: “Writer’s block is such a lonely feeling — it makes you feel like your value’s been taken away. I felt completely unable to open up about it, but I ended up reaching out to friends.
“Marcus Mumford really helped. He understood what it’s like to be under a lot of pressure and afraid of failing and gave me great advice.”
Kahan also had to redefine success. It was not chasing numbers — just being able to make music was enough.
He says: “I learned the hard way about burnout. Success is a double-edged sword. I’ve always said if I had any, or if my tour sells out, I’d be happy. But the second it sells out, you’re looking at the next thing to achieve.
“Starting off this new album was really scary. I had to realise I didn’t need to be the biggest artist in the world or where Stick Season took me. I didn’t need to be successful to be loved.”
Kahan is in London for a few days to promote The Great Divide, his fourth studio album, which is out next Friday.
Taking time off to reset both mentally and emotionally was essential to writing again.
“I’ve struggled with my mental health,” he says candidly.
“But I was struggling more than anybody knew. I’ve struggled with anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia, but it was the OCD that I hadn’t figured out.
“I was diagnosed with OCD last year. It’s not about washing my hands a thousand times — it’s obsessive thinking. I was struggling with a lot of self-esteem and confidence issues, but I’d never dealt with anything so acutely like OCD. I’m supposed to be the singer who’s open about his mental health, but I felt so much shame.
“I needed medical intervention and therapy, and I didn’t want to be open about that because I was afraid. It was frightening as I’d been stripped of
this thing I loved.
“I couldn’t express myself through music any more, and so I didn’t tell anybody and it came to a breaking point.” Through help and time, Kahan started to recognise his disorder in ways he hadn’t before.
“Now I wake up knowing my day is not going to be decided by what I see on my phone,” he says when discussing how therapy has helped him.
“Before, I’d have 700 brilliant words of praise, but it would be the one negative word that would shatter me. For a long time, I thought I was crazy.”
Kahan is focused on bringing his album to the stageCredit: Patrick McCormack
In August 2025, Kahan married his longtime partner Brenna Nolan, bringing a new sense of stability to his life.
The singer has also made a Netflix documentary — Noah Kahan: Out Of Body. It captures this difficult period, which he sees as part of his healing.
He says: “Making the film was a strange but amazing process. Having people follow you around took time to get used to, but they captured a really honest moment for me. Watching it back with my family was emotional. It showed how we really are.
“It was hard seeing how unhappy I was then, but in the end, it told a beautiful story.”
He adds: “My family are on the new record. I love the song American Cars. It’s about my sister.
“Whenever things were tough at home, she’d drive up from New York in a rental car, sunglasses on, just a total badass.
“She’s a surgeon, she just gets things done. She’d come back and help us through it, and the song came from that. Like, you need to come home and help fix this.”
The Great Divide is an album about friendship, miscommunication, regret and personal growth, and the title track became the guiding, emotional “north star” of the record.
He says: “Yeah, The Great Divide is really about a friendship that didn’t work out — one where I wasn’t able to express myself.
“And then there’s a song, Dan, which is about the opposite — being open, telling each other how much you care, facing hard truths. It ends in a way that really encapsulates the whole record. It’s probably my favourite song we made.
“There are a lot of stories,” he adds.
“It’s very emblematic of my childhood and a lot of people’s, young men in particular. Talking about feelings or asking difficult questions can feel like more discomfort than it’s worth, but the consequence is you don’t really know someone as well as you think you do.”
Noah says of his new album: ‘The Great Divide is really about a friendship that didn’t work out — one where I wasn’t able to express myself’Credit: Patrick McCormack
It’s an expansive album with 17 tracks, including the gorgeous We Go Way Back, Willing And Able, Haircut and Porch Light.
He adds: “I can’t wait to see crowds singing back Willing And Able, and Haircut started from that idea of someone coming back to town changed — like they’ve outgrown it. I felt like I’d become that person, only going home for inspiration instead of really being there.
“The song is almost someone singing to me, saying, I’m glad you’ve figured things out, but at least I’m still here and still real. You’ll leave again, and we’ll still be here. That’s what it’s about.
“Then, Porch Light is really about my biggest fear — how I’ve changed.
“I worry about going home and feeling like people see me differently, like I’ve become this ‘Hollywood’ version of myself, too big for where I’m from. That my relationship with Vermont has been changed by success and leaving Vermont for Nashville.
“But my family has always kept me grounded. They’re so happy for me. I wanted to write about that fear you have in your head before you even pick up the phone.
“You’re always anticipating what people might think. But there’s a silver lining in Porch Light. It’s about people saying, ‘We still care about you, we’ll still be here — but you need to figure things out first’.”
And that sense of place runs throughout the album.
“Yeah, the first and last songs really frame the album — I wanted them to feel like an intro and an outro,” Kahan says.
“The first track, End Of August, is this big, building track about that time of year in Vermont . . . It’s that moment when the tourists leave and the people who live there can finally come out of hibernation — like, ‘They’re gone’.”
He’s been working with Stick Season collaborator Gabe Simon, The National’s Aaron Dessner — best known for his work with Taylor Swift, Bon Iver and, more recently, Gracie Abrams — plus Ed Sheeran and Mumford & Sons.
Kahan says: “Gabe and I are really close — we went through a lot making Stick Season, so on this album we leaned on each other. He’s like a brother and the perfect person to go through this with.”
Noah will be in the UK, including three nights at London’s O2 in NovemberCredit: Patrick McCormack
Aaron Dessner brought calm, structure and creative balance to the process.
“Aaron came in early on, but I was intimidated at first,” admits Kahan. “I looked him up on Wikipedia and was terrified of his success. This guy’s a legend.
“This was where Taylor Swift writes and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), who works with Aaron, is my hero. Aaron has a magic to his music — a real understanding of what an artist is trying to say. But he’s a sweet, calm man who lives a very humble life in upstate New York on a farm.
“I needed him to stabilise me creatively. He is regimented in how he makes music and I need a routine. He is an amazing producer and this album sounds so f*****g cool because of what Aaron did.”
The sound on the new album is more expansive than Kahan’s earlier music and includes horns, guitar and richer production.
He says: “Honing on a sound and a theme started the process. Aaron’s place had dirt bikes, fishing rods and skeet shooting — all the things that I grew up doing.
“We couldn’t make the music in Vermont this time and the setting was really important, feeling connected to nature and beauty.
“It’s hard for me to make music in a city. Whenever I’m in a city, all I write is, ‘Get me out of the city’ songs.”
He adds: “We were also still in the middle of touring and I was over the Stick Season songs.
“There’s a lot of electric guitar on the new record, and bouzouki and mandocello, instruments we haven’t really used before. It’s a new confidence, but having spent three years on the road, I just want to make music that’s exciting to play live.”
It’s the connection with his audience that remains key.
He says: “I love it when I see fans singing back my songs as it means they’re feeling it.
“I’m always honoured when someone says my music has helped them to reach out for help. Though it can be overwhelming when people tell me they’re struggling with difficult thoughts.
“I don’t always feel equipped to handle that and I worry I’m not helping in the way they need. It’s hard when you feel you’re letting someone down.”
Now, his attention is focused on bringing the album to the stage.
He says: “I’m looking forward to playing these new songs. This record tells a story, so we’re working on the stage design, setlist and lighting to tell that story. We’re playing stadiums now, but I want fans to still have an intimate experience.”
