“Writers are finding their work devalued in every part of the business.” Why film and TV scribes are preparing to stop work—and how a potential strike could change everything:
Hollywood hasn’t faced the reality of a writers’ 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,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.
Today’s 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’re 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.
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.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why You Should Care That Hollywood Writers Are Poised to StrikeOPINION: 'Beyond imperiling some of your favorite TV shows, a strike would shape the economic fate of tens of thousands of writers, whose working conditions help set the bar for countless more beyond them,' writes lurabardley
Read more »
As Hollywood strike looms, five writers share their storiesStreaming has transformed television and led to a surge in content, but it also has squeezed Hollywood writers. Five Writers Guild of America members share their stories.
Read more »
Tensions from the last writers’ strike cast a shadow over current labor fightThe 2007-08 writers' strike, and lingering mistrust between big media companies and their Hollywood workers, has cast a long shadow over current WGA contract talks.
Read more »
Hollywood writers hold strike vote Tuesday | CNN BusinessThe Writers Guild of America is set to hold a strike authorization vote on Tuesday. If it passes, which it is expected to, that will allow leadership to call a strike if the Guild and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers do not reach a new contract agreement by May 1.
Read more »
Strike or no strike? All about the Hollywood writers fight that's just beginningThe threat of a WGA strike is already top of mind for Hollywood, which would like to avoid a repeat of the 2007-08 work stoppage.
Read more »