Thousands of Hollywood film and TV writers begin strike | film industry

Hollywood productions have ground to a halt after thousands of film and TV writers went on strike following failed last-minute pay talks with major studios.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has called its first shutdown in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on a pay rise, pitting its 11,500 screenwriters against old guard companies, such as Universal, Paramount and Walt Disney, as well as tech newcomers such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

The last industrial action, in 2007, lasted 100 days and cost the California economy an estimated $2.1 billion as productions were shut down and striking writers, actors and producers cut spending.

The WGA said corporate behavior had created a gig economy that aimed to turn writing into a fully independent profession. For the sake of our present and our future, we had no other choice, he said.

In a interview with DeadlineWGA West president Meredith Stiehm said the writers faced an existential threat.

We have been here for six weeks talking to them and these basic proposals have been literally ignored. And we made it very clear to them that 98% of our members are demanding that we fight for something different, not just the usual negotiation that we had that fell on deaf ears.

WGA members were due to begin picketing Hollywood studios from Tuesday afternoon, as well as in New York.

In New York, Greg Iwinski, a writer with credits on shows for Stephen Colbert and Jon Oliver, said the WGA strike was necessary because streaming services had tried to separate writers from what they knew. best how to connect to an audience.

There’s a lot of accumulated wisdom on television and in Hollywood, and it’s been effective and profitable for years, he said. Streamers arrived and tried to test how little work it takes to create entertainment and separate artists from their own success and employment.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, said Monday night that it had offered generous pay increases for screenwriters, but the two sides had been unable to reach to an agreement.

He said producers were ready to increase their offers for higher wages and residues, but were unwilling to do so due to the magnitude of other proposals still on the table, such as the obligation for companies to employ a certain number of writers for a fixed period. time on a show, whether needed or not.

Writers say they suffered financially during the TV streaming boom, in part because of shorter seasons and lower residual payments. According to WGA statistics, half of TV series writers now work for minimum wage, up from a third in 2013-14. The median salary at the top screenwriter/producer level has fallen 4% over the past decade.

For viewers, the most immediate effects of the strike will be felt in late-night talk shows and sketches. Shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show Starring Stephen Colbert, which use writing teams to come up with their topical jokes, are expected to halt production immediately.

Further into the future, the strike could lead to a postponement of the fall television season, for which writing normally begins in May or June. If the strikes continue, the networks will increasingly fill their lineups with unscripted reality shows, newsmagazines and reruns.

Media companies face a difficult economic environment. Conglomerates are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming services profitable after investing billions in programming to attract subscribers. Netlix’s market value fell nearly $45 billion last year after predicting a drop in new subscribers.

Meanwhile, the rise of streaming has led to a drop in TV ad revenue as traditional TV audiences dwindle and advertisers go elsewhere.

The WGA also wants safeguards to prevent studios from using AI to generate new scripts from writers’ previous work, and writers want to make sure they aren’t being asked to rewrite created draft scripts. by AI.

The WGA announcement a series of pickets in Los Angeles and New York. Other entertainment industry unions, including the actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America, both of which are due to negotiate with the AMPTP soon, published statements of support.

Colbert shared an image of its writers and expressed his support for them in his opening monologue on Monday evening. Monday Night Met Gala, Fallon said he wanted to see a fair deal agreed for writers. I really need my writers, I don’t have a show without my writers, he said.

Seth Meyers expressed support for the strike on the corrections segment of his show on Friday. I also have a very strong feeling that what the authors are asking for is not unreasonable. As a proud member of the guild, I’m very grateful that there is an organization looking out for the best interests of writers, he said.

In the UK, the Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) advised its members not to work on projects under the jurisdiction of the WGA for the duration of the strike.