Global Courant 2023-04-30 05:18:14
Hollywood film and television writers could strike Tuesday if their demands are not met during contract negotiations with the industry’s biggest production companies.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA), a union representing film and TV writers, is renegotiating a three-year, 11,500-member contract that expires this week. It is in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an association representing American studios, streaming services and production houses.
The WGA received overwhelming support from its members earlier this month to authorize a strike if a deal is not reached before the approaching May 1 deadline.
Here’s what you need to know about a potential writer’s strike.
What are the problems?
A display with artificial intelligence will be shown in Shanghai in 2021. The WGA wants studios to regulate the use of AI in script writing. While open to using the technology, the guild says AI cannot be used to undermine screenwriters and their work by influencing their compensation. (Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)
Film and television writers are seeking pay raises from major studios and production companies like Netflix and Disney. The WGA says working conditions have deteriorated during the streaming era, and writers’ compensation has suffered from shortened seasons, smaller residual streams and the emergence of writers’ “mini-rooms.”
Minirooms are pre-production groups, usually consisting of a showrunner creator and a few writers, who work ahead of several scripts from the first season of a potential show to offer to streaming executives. Instead of the traditional pipeline of ordering a TV series from a pilot episode, some companies are now opting for script-to-series orders.
The practice of mini-rooms is intended to give executives an idea of the series’ direction and budget. But critics say they pay less. Many TV and movie writers are based in New York and Los Angeles, industrial centers with a high cost of living.
The WGA is also urging studios to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in screenwriting. While it says it’s open to using the technology (as long as writers retain credit for the work), the guild has also said AI cannot be used to undermine screenwriters and their work by influencing their compensation.
The WGA’s proposal to regulate the use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies ensures that the companies cannot use AI to undermine writers’ working standards, including compensation, residuals, segregation of rights and credits .
What is a strike?
A strike could begin as early as Tuesday morning. If so, union members must adhere to strict rules that have been released in advance by the WGA.
Once a strike begins, writers will no longer be able to meet, negotiate, or work for an affected company. So does selling or buying equipment, according to the WGA’s negotiation website.
Writers must also send a formal statement to their agents and professional representatives prohibiting them from doing business on their behalf.
Union members who violate strike rules and cross the picket line may be penalized by the guild for endangering the strike process.
What do the studios say?
Production companies like Netflix have a backlog of content they would release in the event of a strike. Streamers have also expanded their roster of international series in recent years – shows that would not be affected by a US writers’ strike. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
The AMPTP, which includes Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, representing Disney, Comcast and other companies in the contract negotiations, says the goal is to reach “a fair and reasonable agreement” with the guild.
Sources close to the studios have said budgets are tight and companies are focused on profiting from expensive streaming investments that haven’t been as fruitful as expected, according to Reuters.
How will a strike affect my favorite TV shows?
That the strike will most likely start in early May, when many TV shows are at the end of their seasons, means viewers are unlikely to notice any changes to their favorite scripted shows.
Comedies and dramas, many of which are filmed months before their air date, would only be affected if there are outstanding episodes left to be written once the strike begins.
But a strike would be felt immediately on US talk and variety shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show, which rely on topical issues and are written on a much tighter timeline than other scripted shows.
Daytime soap operas would also be affected relatively quickly.
Given that films are written years in advance, releases in the near future will not be affected by the strike, although films currently in the writing phase of development may be delayed.
Will this be the same as the 2007-2008 strike?
Former Grey’s Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey, right, joins members of the Writers Guild of America on the picket line during the November 2007 Los Angeles writers’ strike. (Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press)
The last Writers’ Guild strike began in November 2007 and ended in February 2008 after 100 days. Since the action started mid-season and ran long, its impact was very noticeable to viewers. TV networks replaced their usual programming with reruns and reality shows.
Scripts were rushed to be completed by the strike deadline. Series including Breaking Bad and 30 Rock had to end their seasons early and many others were cancelled. Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 jobs were cut and California’s economy lost $2 billion.
Today, production companies like Netflix have a backlog of content which they would release in the event of a strike. Streamers have also expanded their roster of international series in recent years – shows that would not be affected by a US writers’ strike.
During the 2007-2008 strike, a deluge of Canadian series like Orphan Black, Flashpoint and The Listener were picked up by US networks including BBC America, NBC and CBS.
A potential writers’ strike was averted in 2017 when both sides reached an agreement within their deadline.
