How a Hollywood writers’ strike would affect movies and TV shows

On May 1, film and television scribes could lay down their pen indefinitely.

It’s the day the Writers Guild of Americas (WGA) three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that represents Hollywood studios, including Disney and Netflix, expires.

Negotiations between all parties have been ongoing since the end of March, but if new terms are not established within the next two weeks, the writers could go on strike. On Tuesday April 11, the WGA called on its members for a strike authorization vote. The voting period ends on April 17.

Over the past decade, companies have adopted business practices that have cut our pay and undermined our working conditions, Los Angeles-based WGA-West said in a tweet from February 4. We demand that writers’ pay and conditions be restored to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.

If the writers vote to strike, it could help them bargain harder.

The bulk of their problems revolves around a big beast they’ve been trying to tame for a decade: streaming. Companies have taken advantage of the streaming transition to underpay writers, creating more precarious and lower paid models for writers’ work, a WGA States March Report.

Which shows would be most affected by a writers’ strike?

Studios rushed to store scripts in case things go wrong. Movies with scripts completed and TV shows with scripts written can continue to be made even if the writers stop writing for at least a while.

Late-night talk shows, however, will come to a halt almost immediately, as writers are expected to deliver fresh and timely takes.

How streaming services harm writers, according to the Writers Union

Writers are embarking on shorter runtimes of 6-8 episodes versus 20-24 in TV’s glory days. More writers work at minimum, regardless of experience, or work in exploitative conditions mini roomsWho give an unwarranted twist of the gig economy to the profession.

The separation of writing and production can create gaps in the employment of writers. The WGA campaigned ensuring appropriate remuneration for the writing of television series throughout the pre-production, production and post-production process.

The lack of a seasonal calendar lowers wages.

Variety comedy writers working on streaming series lack the basic protections of a minimum basic agreement, even though episodic writers working for the same companies do have those minimum standards.

The varied release strategies of streamers regarding feature films have created uncertainty about the contractual terms applicable to screenwriters on these projects. Stream writers often end up with lower pay, stretching out over several months or being held hostage by producers’ demands for free work. WGA look for standardization of the remuneration of a screenwriter, whether a film is released in theaters or on a streaming service.

Mapped: Writers work for less money

and be forced to work fewer hours

WGA protests, by the numbers

11,000: Hollywood Syndicated Writers

100 days: How long did the Writers Guild of America last the strike lastedbetween November 5, 2007 and February 12, 2008. There were multiple casualties, including but not limited to Saturday Night Live get off the airwaves; late night hosts like Jay LenoConan OBrienAnd David Letterman pay their non-striking staff out of their own pockets; and show as Gossip Girl, Heroes, Breaking Bad, And 30 Rockall had to air truncated seasons

96%: how many members voted Yes in the 2017 strike authorization vote. A simple majority is enough to announce a strike, but an overwhelming majority sends a strong message. That year, Hollywood narrowly avoided a WGA strike reaching a last-minute deal that served two big union demands by increasing the health plan and improving the pay of writers working on short-lived TV series

153 days: How long did the longest WGA strike on record last. It happened in 1988

4%: What is the median weekly salary of a writer-producer declined During the last decade. Taking inflation into account, the drop is 23%

$60,932: Current minimum for a first draft of a non-original screenplay, which represents only 1.2% of the minimum budget threshold of $5 million or 0.3% of a still modest budget of $20 million

Half: Percentage of series authors who work in streaming NOW

Persons of interest: David Young and Ellen Stutzman

David Young, executive director of WGA West during the 2007 strike, has been negotiating for the union for over a decade now and has become well known for his cut throat style. At the end of February, he announced that he was take sick leave.

Ellen Stutzman, the guild’s deputy executive director, stepped in as new chief negotiator just a month ago. Although a new face in the limelight, Stutzman is a seasoned member having been with the guild for 17 years and served as Deputy Executive Director since 2018.

Retrospective: the last war won by the WGA

In 2019, the WGA took on top Hollywood talent agencies WME, CAA and UTA, accusing them of breach of fiduciary duty and price fixing in an antitrust lawsuit.

The union argued that packing coststalent agencies would charge around 3% of a project’s licensing fee upfront, encouraged agents to prioritize transactions who increase agency revenue rather than align their interests with those of the writers they represent. WGA has won the war to remove these fees from future drafts.

One more thing: even writing for a hit show doesn’t help writers

Ashley Nicole Black, writer of Apple TV series Ted LassoHBO A dark lady sketch showand TBS late night talk show Full frontal with Samantha Beeexplained how these days writing on the hits no longer earns you money! than to write a so-called flop a Twitter thread from April 12:

So back when something like Friends was a hit, they sold it to other networks to rebroadcast. So when you see Friends on Nick at Nite (yeah yall, us old), these writers always get a check. As it should be because we always appreciate their work. But now if you write about a hit for one network, they don’t sell it to another network, they sell it to their own streamer. Or if you wrote it for a streamer, they don’t sell it anywhere. So even if it’s a huge hit, they can figure out the value and then they send you a check for $1.25. So the residues no longer exist. When you add that to falling salaries at all levels, smaller writers’ rooms and shorter work periods, writers are squeezed in all directions and people don’t have enough savings to live between seasons of shows (even hit ones).

Respond over the blacksMike Royce, creator of the Netflix series One day at a timethat Netflix canceled and Pop TV revivedchimed in to say that the definition of a hit is also becoming increasingly ambiguous due to the reluctance of streaming platforms to share data on the success of their shows.

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Disclosure: Quartz’s US-based journalists are represented by the Writers Guild of America East, which is affiliated with WGAW.