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Streaming didn\u2019t just revolutionize the way we watch television: it completely upended how the people who make our favorite programming get paid. Writers, in particular, have felt the squeeze brought about by streaming\u2019s shorter seasons, longer production times, and shrinking residual checks. \u201cWriters are finding their work devalued in every part of the business,\u201d the unions that represent some 11,000 Hollywood scribes wrote in a March report, which revealed that the weekly median pay for a TV writer-producer has declined 4% over the last decade. <\/p>\n
Now, the Writers Guild of America\u2014still basking in the glow of a 2021 victory against the high-powered Hollywood talent agencies\u2014is gearing up for a fight. The WGA\u2019s three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers\u2014the trade association that represents Hollywood studios, including Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery\u2014is set to expire on May 1. If the two sides can\u2019t agree on new terms, Hollywood could see its first writers\u2019 strike in 15 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re asking isn\u2019t absurd,\u201d says Brittani Nichols, a writer and producer for ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary. \u201cIt\u2019s just to be treated fairly and to be able to make a career out of being a television writer, because that is being stripped away from us right now.\u201d <\/p>\n
Talks began in late March. In what was perhaps the first indication that they weren\u2019t going well, the WGA sent a letter to its members last Monday calling for a strike authorization vote. \u201cThe studios need to respond to the crisis writers face,\u201d the Los Angeles\u2013based WGA West said in a statement released via Twitter. \u201cWGA members must demonstrate our willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote.\u201d <\/p>\n
Writers can\u2019t strike until their existing contract expires, but calling for a vote\u2014which will begin Tuesday\u2014is the equivalent of assembling the troops. If writers come down decisively in favor of a strike, it could give the WGA additional leverage in its ongoing negotiations with the studios. <\/p>\n
Among those who immediately closed ranks was Everything Everywhere All at Once codirector Daniel Kwan. \u201cIt\u2019s about writers getting their fair share,\u201d the newly minted multiple Oscar winner tweeted as he called for his colleagues to vote yes for strike authorization. \u201cIt\u2019s about maintaining a healthy middle\/working class of writers in our industry. It\u2019s about showing our collective strength as new tech threatens to take away our leverage.\u201d <\/p>\n
There\u2019s still time for the writers and studios to work out their differences\u2014just like they did in 2017\u2014but if talks stall, there\u2019s a good chance that writers will put down their pens and head to the picket line. Below, Vanity Fair breaks down what you need to know about the potential work stoppage. <\/p>\n
What Do Writers Want?
\nMore money. But, of course, it\u2019s more nuanced than that. TV writers (and to some extent movie screenwriters too) feel like they\u2019ve been sidelined while streamers and studios have enjoyed the spoils of the streaming wars. Last year, Hollywood released nearly 600 original scripted shows\u2014the most ever, or at least the most since John Landgraf, the FX chairman and \u201dPeak TV\u201d soothsayer, began keeping track. But writers, who are typically paid per episode, have seen their earnings decimated by shorter season orders (typically just 6\u201312, episodes compared to the 22\u201324 episode orders of yore). Longer production times\u2014consider the 20-month gap between the second and third seasons of Stranger Things\u2014also mean they have to stretch their pay further. Outside of a handful of bold-named writer-producers\u2014like Shonda Rhimes, Greg Berlanti, and Ryan Murphy\u2014stories abound about writers who are barely scraping by. <\/p>\n
In early March, WGA members approved a list of general objectives\u2014called a Pattern of Demands\u2014that includes standard negotiating points like higher minimum compensation and increased contributions to healthcare and retirement funds. They are also looking to address some streaming-specific frustrations, including standardizing pay for a screenwriter regardless of whether a film is released theatrically or on a streaming service. <\/p>\n
One particularly onerous streaming-era invention that appears in the Pattern of Demands is the \u201cmini-room\u201d\u2014a writers\u2019 room with only a handful of scribes that\u2019s convened for a few weeks to develop story ideas before production officially begins. Mini-rooms can be cheaper for the studio but, as Vanity Fair noted when they first began cropping up some five-plus years ago, have turned a formerly lucrative career path into essentially a gig-economy job. <\/p>\n
What Can We Learn From Past Negotiations?
\nThe WGA is a formidable opponent with real momentum on its side. In 2019, it took on Hollywood\u2019s powerful talent agencies and won. Writers were also prepared to strike in 2017 until they landed an eleventh hour deal that won them a 15% increase in pay-TV residuals and job protection for new parents. <\/p>\n
Hollywood hasn\u2019t faced the reality of a writers\u2019 strike since 2007, when around 12,000 scribes headed to the picket lines in a work stoppage that lasted 100 days. At issue was how writers were being compensated when someone went to download an episode of, say, CSI from iTunes for $1.99. <\/p>\n
Streaming was in its infancy then, but creatives were concerned that the studios would cut them out of the profits just as they had tried to do when home video sales first took off. \u201cWe absolutely didn\u2019t get everything we wanted, but getting the jurisdiction in new media completely changed the way writers, actors, directors and the entire industry are employed,\u201d Patric Verrone, president of WGA West during the 2007 strike, told The Hollywood Reporter several years ago. \u201cIf we hadn\u2019t done that, Netflix wouldn\u2019t be what it is today, which is the company that employs something like a third of our members now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s negotiations feel just as existential. Streaming is now the dominant means of distributing entertainment to consumers, and as writers face the very real possibility that peak TV is coming to an end, they\u2019re looking for ways to make these jobs sustainable. But the WGA is also bargaining without its controversial, yet effective lead negotiator for the first time since 2006. David Young, who served as executive director for WGA West during the 2007 strike and the more recent fight with the agencies, announced in February that he was taking a medical leave. Young prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Ellen Stutzman has taken over as chief negotiator for the current round of talks with the AMPTP. <\/p>\n
Will Writers Really Strike?
\nVanity Fair has talked to dozens of TV-industry workers over the last few weeks, and everyone has a different opinion. Though many writers say they don\u2019t want to strike, they\u2019re prepared to. The rest of Hollywood, meanwhile, is acting as though a strike is likely. A source says a flurry of mini-rooms began to meet toward the end of last year as studios look to stockpile scripts. Meanwhile, dealmakers are rushing to make sure contracts are signed. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all planning as if the strike is going to occur,\u201d says Elsa Ramo, who works with independent film and TV producers, financiers, and creatives as managing partner of Hollywood law firm Ramo Law. \u201cOur perspective is, how do we continue to get things made if and when the strike happens?\u201d<\/p>\n
Complicating matters is the precarious position the studios and streamers find themselves in as they negotiate with the writers. Nearly every major entertainment conglomerate is currently cutting back on spending, laying off staff as they attempt to turn their expensive streaming gambits into profitable businesses. For the last few years, Wall Street turned a blind eye to the billions that companies like Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal sunk into Netflix competitors\u2014but now the bill has come due. That might make it harder for the writers to win allies. <\/p>\n
What Happens Next?
\nBefore the writers can strike, they must vote to authorize a work stoppage. WGA has called for a strike authorization vote to be conducted from April 11 to April 17. A majority vote in favor of a strike would allow union leaders to execute one should they not have a new contract in place by the time the existing contract expires on May 1. <\/p>\n
If negotiations stall and a strike does take place, expect writers to put down their pens within a matter of days. In 2007, writers headed to picket lines outside the major LA studios on the Monday after their contract expired. But that doesn\u2019t mean all productions would immediately grind to a halt. Movies with completed screenplays would likely continue to film, and some shows would probably remain in production until they run out of scripts. A strike would continue until both parties agree on a new contract. The longest WGA strike on record lasted 153 days in 1988. <\/p>\n
The situation could worsen if the Directors Guild of America, which is set to begin negotiations with studios in May, follows the WGA with its own strike when its contract expires at the end of June. <\/p>\n
What Would a Strike Mean for My Favorite Show?
\nAny strike would cripple Hollywood for a time, though how acute the pain would be depends on how long the work stoppage lasts. Many movies and streaming TV shows are in production well before they make their way to screens big and small, meaning viewers likely wouldn\u2019t notice a clog in Hollywood\u2019s content pipeline. But late night shows might have to go dark for a time, and broadcast shows might have to delay their return to airwaves. One casualty of the 2007 writers strike was the 65th Golden Globes, which hosted a press conference instead of its usual glitzy broadcast. <\/p>\n
Some writers are worried that studios could use the strike as an opportunity to terminate the pricey overall deals they signed with creatives at the height of the streaming wars. Those deals\u2014in which a studio essentially pays a writer or producer a salary to make programming it can sell to a network or streamer\u2014can be restrictive, but also guarantee a steady income. The studios set a precedent in 2007 when they used the strike as cover to end more than three dozen overall deals. Now these deals are even more prevalent, though not all of them are as fruitful as the studios would like. <\/p>\n
Hollywood\u2019s more enterprising workers might also find opportunity. Streamers with robust international operations will also be able to lean on programming from overseas. Out-of-work writers might find more time to work on spec scripts and novels\u2014and perhaps the faltering podcast industry will get a much-needed boost from a surge in audio dramas.<\/p>\n
In truth, the ripple effects of a strike might not be felt for years. The last one, after all, led to an unscripted television boom, including a celebrity-centric revival of flagging Donald Trump\u2013hosted reality competition The Apprentice. We all know how that ended.<\/p>\n
View this article at Vanity Fair<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Writers\u2019 Strike Might Grind Hollywood to a Halt: What You Need to Know: Streaming didn\u2019t just revolutionize the way we watch television: it completely upended how the people who make our favorite programming get paid. Writers, in particular, have felt the squeeze brought about by streaming\u2019s shorter seasons, longer production times, and shrinking residual
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