What was long feared has come to pass, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers could not reach a new contract agreement. At midnight, May 1, the WGA went on strike with picketing scheduled to begin in front of Hollywood studios and networks beginning Tuesday afternoon. What’s most disconcerting, is how far away both sides are on “core” issues to the WGA.
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Before we provide an update on where the two parties are, here is a quick rundown of how this affects the everyday American moviegoer and television viewer.
As of tomorrow, every late-night talk show will cease production in solidarity with their striking writers. That includes “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “The Daily Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Additionally, “Saturday Night Live,” which was scheduled to be hosted by Pete Davidson this Saturday night, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and “Real Time with Bill Maher,” are also expected to stop production. Beyond those programs, the fact the strike is ongoing won’t really be apparent from a product standpoint until the fall.
The last time the WGA went on strike was in 2007, it lasted 3 months and eight days. The guild previously went on strike in 1988 and that work stoppage lasted 153 days. In 2007, the television networks pivoted to unscripted programming and reality programming which rarely uses WGA writers. Most networks and streamers have a good backlog of scripted content through the end of the year. Where it gets dicey is if the strike lasts longer than three months and dives into the fall and potentially lasts until the end of 2023. If that occurs, even streamers such as Netflix, which backlog a ton of content, will have issues heading into 2024.
On the film side, a prolonged strike would affect films that have not gone into production. During the last strike, Hollywood studios began filming “finished” scripts with no on-set re-writes and the results were not ideal. Oh, and then there are the Teamsters.
Arguably the oldest union in Hollywood, the Teamsters, who work behind the scenes in various capacities on sets, sound stages, and in studio operations, have a “do not cross picket lines” policy. They have stated their public support for the WGA and their no picket line policy, but also note the “decision is up to the individual.” If a large number of Teamsters do not cross the picket lines, it will severely affect production in Los Angeles.
Both the WGA and the AMPTP have been negotiating at the latter’s offices for six weeks. In a town full of loose lips, it was somewhat surprising how few details of those talks were leaked publicly. Following the breakdown in talks, the WGA released a list of their proposals and how AMPTP reacted.
The WGA says they are fighting for preserving the writer’s room (a mainstay of television production that has been widdled way be networks and streamers to “mini-writer’s rooms”), streaming residuals based on the popularity of a program (basically telling the streamers to provide data on how shows perform to reward talent properly), and regulating the use of artificial intelligence, among other issues. If you review the breakdown provided by the WGA above, you’ll notice not only did the AMPTP reject many of these proposals but refused to negotiate or even discuss them.
In a statement, the WGA noted, “The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a “day rate” in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”
AMPTP issued their own statement, noting “Negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA concluded without an agreement today. The AMPTP presented a comprehensive package proposal to the Guild last night which included generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals. The AMPTP also indicated to the WGA that it is prepared to improve that offer, but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the Guild continues to insist upon. The primary sticking points are ‘mandatory staffing,’ and ‘duration of employment’ — Guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.”
For anyone looking for a glimmer of hope the strike could be a short one, both sides did tentatively agree on six issues, noted in the WGA document embedded in this post.
Complicating matters is that the writers have basically taken the first hit for the greater creative community. There is now a ticking industry time bomb just two months away. Hollywood networks and studios have a potential double whammy of both the the Directors Guild of America and the SAG-AFTRA (and its 160,000 members) contracts ending on June 30. Both unions specifically put off beginning negotiations until after the WGA engaged first. What all three organizations have in common is they have publicly said they want to see a fundamental change in their agreements due to the new streaming model and concerns over artificial intelligence. All three have separate core issues that are key to a new contract for each union respectfully. If only SAG joins the WGA on strike, Hollywood will absolutely come to a standstill and the impacts will be immediate. Not just in what content is in the pipeline but economically to the greater Los Angeles metro area.
