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Los Angeles (AFP) – Thousands of Hollywood film and television writers will go on strike on Tuesday, May 2, their union said, after talks with studios and streaming platforms over pay and working conditions ended without an agreement. What is happening in Hollywood? How could the strike affect large productions?
The paralysis of activities in Hollywood will result in the immediate interruption of successful programs, such as “late-night shows” and in important delays of television series and films that are scheduled to premiere this year.
“We have not reached an agreement with the studios and platforms. We will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight” on Monday, May 1, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) said in an email sent to members and obtained by AFP.
Studio responses to the requests were “wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis facing screenwriters,” the WGA said.
Major studios and platforms, including Disney+ and Netflix, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), announced that talks with the WGA “ended without an agreement.”
A writers’ strike paralyzed the Hollywood audiovisual industry in 2007-2008, in a 100-day dispute that cost the industry some $2 billion.
This time, Screenwriters Demand Higher Salaries and a Bigger Share of Profits Generated by the Streaming Boom –the broadcast of content on demand over the internet–, while studies argue that they have to reduce costs due to economic pressures.
The points of contention
Screenwriters say they are struggling to make a living with salaries that are stagnant or devalued by inflation, while their employers profit and raise the salaries of their executives.
They point out that there have never been so many screenwriters working for the minimum wage set by the unions and They denounce that television networks hire fewer people to write increasingly shorter series.
When talks collapsed on Monday, the WGA accused the studios of seeking to create a gig economy, in which being a screenwriter would become a “wholly separate profession.”
The AMPTP claimed to have presented a “comprehensive proposal” that included an increase in the remuneration of scriptwriters, but said it was not willing to improve on this offer “given the magnitude of the other requests” from the union.
According to its statement, the WGA’s demands that studios hire a set number of writers “for a specified period of time, whether necessary or not” constitute one of the main points of disagreement.
Also there is controversy over how writers are paid for streaming contentwhich on platforms like Netflix usually remains visible for years.
For decades, writers have been paid “residual royalties” for the reuse of their works, a percentage of studio revenue for the movie or show, or a flat fee each time an episode is played.
But with streaming, writers get a fixed annual payment, even if their work is a blockbuster, like “Bridgerton” or “Stranger Things,” with hundreds of millions of viewers.
The WGA asks to revalue these amounts today “too low in view of the massive international reuse” of the programs. He also wants to discuss the future impact of artificial intelligence on the screenwriting profession.
The AMPTP notes that “residual royalties” paid to screenwriters reached a record level of $494 million in 2021, up from $333 million ten years earlier.
“Everything changed”
After the waste of recent years, when rival platforms tried to grow their subscribers at all costs, the studios are now under intense pressure from investors to cut spending and turn a profit.
And they deny using the existence of economic difficulties as a pretext to strengthen their position in the negotiations with the scriptwriters.
“Do you think Disney would fire 7,000 people for fun?” said a source close to the AMPTP. He added: “There is only one profitable platform at the moment and that is Netflix. The film industry is also quite a competitive sector.”
The studios’ statement on Monday indicated that they remained “willing to enter into discussions with the WGA in an effort to break this logjam.”
But the industry fears a domino effect. Other Hollywood unions have stood in solidarity with the writers, such as the actors’ SAG-AFTRA, and the directors’ DGA.
Amanda Seyfried shares her thoughts on a potential WGA strike: “Everything changed with streaming, and everyone should be compensated for their work. It’s f-cking easy.” pic.twitter.com/T21n5f188K
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) May 2, 2023
Stars at the Met Gala on Monday were in favor of the writers.
“Everything changed with streaming platforms and everyone needs to be compensated for their work,” actress Amanda Seyfried told ‘Variety’.
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