Hollywood chiefs and writers to resume negotiations Thursday after attendees 'encouraged' by talks

Writers and heads of the four major studios are set to meet for a second consecutive day Thursday as they try to hammer out a deal that puts to an end the historic strike that has frozen Hollywood.

The studio bosses - Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, Disney chief Bob Iger, Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos, and NBCUniversal studio chairman Donna Langley - resumed negotiations on Wednesday with the Writers Guild of America. After the meeting, both sides issued a rare joint statement.

"The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow," they said.

Neither side said anything further. But the fact that the two sides - which at times have rebuked each other for comments to the media - issued a joint statement signaled a possible sign of progress.

Warner Bros. Discovery is CNN's parent company.

Separately, a person familiar with the matter told CNN that the Wednesday talks left attendees "feeling encouraged."

The current standoff has now stretched for more than 140 days and is approaching the longest writers' strike on record, lasting 154 days in 1988.