Film and television writers are preparing to step away from their keyboards and go on strike if Hollywood studios refuse to meet demands for a new contract by May 1, 2023.
The Writers Guild of America is the union that represents almost 10,000 film and television writers. On April 17, the union announced that its members had authorized a strike, with 98% voting in favor, the highest percentage of support yet. The strike also had a record-breaking turnout, with more than 9,000 members participating. The strike is currently due to start on May 1 unless the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the bargaining body for the studios, come to an agreement.
Why is it happening?
The writers are demanding better working conditions and fair compensation from the big Hollywood studios. The WGA claims that the studios have taken advantage of the switch to streaming by prioritizing revenue from those platforms over paying the writers fairly.
In the past decade, the median weekly pay for a writer-producer has dropped 23% when accounting for inflation, according to the WGA. Now, half of all writers are being paid the minimum amount allowed by the union contracts for their work. Screenwriters also haven't seen a bump in their salaries since 2018. The switch to streaming also created issues for the traditional payment models. Before streaming, most TV shows would have around 22 episodes per season, and writers would be paid per episode. Now though, shows have far fewer episodes, with an average of around 10 per season. However, writers are still paid per episode, and when TV show episodes are a lengthy and expensive spectacle, like those of Game of Thrones or The Last of Us, making that salary stretch becomes difficult.
Residuals are another source of disdain for WGA members. They act as a form of royalty payment for writers' work that continues to be in use. In the broadcast world, residuals were based on the success of the show, meaning the more viewers, the more money they would be paid. In the streaming age, though, writers' residuals are not based on success, meaning the minds behind the biggest performing shows will not be compensated more than those with commercial flops, despite the hits generating big profits for studios.
For their next contract, writers are demanding better compensation and residuals, increased payments into the health and pension plans and improved professional standards, including more diversity and inclusion efforts and regulation of artificial intelligence.
What happens if they strike?
If an agreement isn't reached by May 1, the strike will begin. This will have massive industry-wide consequences and may affect viewers.
The last time a writers strike happened was in 2007-08 and lasted 100 days, costing the Los Angeles economy $2 billion. A fourth of all primetime programming was lost in the strike. Many hit shows were affected, including Gossip Girl, Lost, Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad. Most affected shows had their seasons cut short dramatically, often resulting in clumsy storylines, bad dialogue and unbelievable circumstances.
The strike also affected film, although not as severely given the longer timelines in film production. One of the most affected films was the James Bond film Quantum of Solace. The screenplay was finished just before the strike deadline, but with no writers available for rewrites on set, the leading man Daniel Craig was enlisted to help with writing alongside the director. The Bond film is considered the worst of Craig's tenure as 007.
If the strike goes ahead, viewers can expect an immediate stop to late night comedy shows like SNL, The Tonight Show and Last Week Tonight, given their weekly scripting schedule. Many shows set to premiere in the fall will also likely be pushed back.
Studios are preparing for the strike by pushing production and writing deadlines up, stockpiling episodes of shows and investing in unscripted reality television. This indicates they are ready for the strike, however long it may last.
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