The wave of optimism that swept Hollywood in the wake of the Writers Guild’s new contract abruptly crashed last week, as negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the studios petered. Insiders now predict it could take weeks for the actors union and the AMPTP to return to the bargaining table, scuttling hopes for the industry to return to production by the end of the year.

With the mood around town changed literally overnight, Variety’s labor experts assembled Thursday morning for a Variety Intelligence Platform webinar on LinkedIn Live, the latest in our continuing series of discussions on the industry’s labor crisis.

Taking place just hours after SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations broke down, the webinar, moderated by VIP+ media analyst Tyler Aquilina, focused mainly on how the talks fell apart, what issues are keeping the guild and studios at odds and the potential repercussions for productions that were already been prepping to resume.

“Things were definitely starting to ramp up again” with the writers getting back to work, Variety senior TV writer Joe Otterson explained, but the cameras can’t roll until the actors have a deal in hand. Meanwhile, co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton added, further delays could hobble the film industry’s post-COVID recovery at a critical moment.

“There’s been so much focus on TV, but I think you’re going to hear more about the film business,” Littleton said. “[NBCUniversal Studio Group chairman Donna Langley] made the point that you need a volume of movies to get people to the box office … and the worry of the pipeline pinch for the coming summer is, what is it going to do to consumer moviegoing habits?”

This underscores an important point: No matter when the actors strike is ultimately resolved, Hollywood will still be grappling with the same critical challenges it was facing before the strikes, including massive losses in streaming, Wall Street’s wrath, the end of peak TV and the contracting film exhibition business.

The industry’s working class will continue to face tooth-and-nail battles to chart a sustainable future in a rapidly transforming business. And it’s already clear that the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike will not mark the end of this struggle, with Hollywood crew workers under IATSE set to negotiate a new contract next year.

For instance, Variety senior media reporter Gene Maddaus observed, “I think artificial intelligence is an interesting issue for a lot of below-the-line unions as well. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to carry over into next year, and certainly this rising tide, this historic pro-labor sentiment is not going away. It’s going to be a tough negotiation next year — we know that much.”