Scriptnotes Podcast SC39 - Sidecast: The 2026 MBA
Apr 10, 2026
They unpack the new 2026 WGA Minimum Basic Agreement and the committee process behind it. They focus on emergency health fund fixes, contribution caps, and member cost changes. AI reuse protections and new notice/negotiation rights get attention. They cover pay rules like page-one rewrites, guaranteed rewrites, limits on unpaid producer requests, and changes to TV if-come deals.
AI Snips
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Transcript
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Raising Contribution Caps Is How Money Is Brought In
- Health contributions are percentages on pay with company contribution caps that stopped payments past a threshold.
- Raising the screenwriter cap from $250K to $400K (by year three) brings significant new dollars into the joint trust funds.
Choose Plan Options Proactively To Curb Costs
- Start evaluating plan options and expected cost increases now because members will likely pay more out of pocket.
- New Centivo option has lower premiums ($25) vs Anthem ($75), plus surgical/PT services to reduce costs.
AI Use Requires Notification And Negotiation
- The 2023 AI protections (humans are writers; AI outputs not source material; disclosure and no-mandatory-AI) remain intact.
- New requirement: companies must notify and negotiate with the Guild before licensing writers' material for AI outputs.