Writers Guild of America to Strike at Midnight After Talks Break Down
The Writers Guild of America is officially going on strike after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down despite months of negotiation.
“We have not reached an agreement with the studios and streamers,” the guild said in a statement released on Monday night. “We will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight.”
The WGA’s current agreement with the AMPTP, which represents the nine largest studios in Hollywood, expired on May 1. Discussion regarding a new three-year contract began on March 20.
At the center of the negotiation: An acknowledgment of, and correcting for, the way that streaming has affected the work, compensation and working conditions of writers. “Over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions,” the Writers Guild of America West wrote in a recent tweet. “We are asking to restore writer pay & conditions to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.”
According to the WGA, more writers work at the current agreement’s minimum pay level now than a decade ago. Between 2013 and 2014, only 33 percent of all TV series writers were paid the minimum. But in the nearly 10 years since, that number has jumped to 50 percent. Lower weekly pay of the writers and producers represented was also cited as being down four percent throughout the last decade. When accounting for inflation, that decline rises to 23 percent.
In anticipation of a possible strike, some shows (including NBC’s Quantum Leap and La Brea) rolled production on the current season right into the next, so as to bank episodes to offset any lull in output.
Time to expect NCIS Season 21 to be delayed then. :(
Well, I guess it’s good you have 20 other seasons to watch.
🤣🤣🤣
Unfortunately Grey’s Anatomy fans only have 19 seasons to rewatch.
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Back to the last writer’s strike, GA season 4: one possible plot twist that was changed when the season resumed (first 12 episodes were before the strike and the final five episodes were written post strike) was which character would get romantically involved with Erica Hahn.
Initially there were rumours Cristina’s post-Burke life would involve a bisexual relationship. After the strike it was Callie and Erica. No idea if true but given Cristina’s sexual history with her Cardio teachers it’s possible.
How will this affect shows that are still shooting? I think Riverdale is suppose to finish in early June. Will they be able to finish?
As long as all the scripts have been written, it won’t be affected at all.
That’s what I was thinking.
Usually writers are actively working on set as well to make adjustments. If production was able to just continue unaffected I don’t think this would be as big a deal as it is. Could be wrong though, or maybe it’ll be up to each individual production. However if anyone makes any changes to any line, it’ll be considered breaking the picket line and that’s really hard to avoid on a fast changing set.
Most times there are writers continuously making revisions. If any revisions occur while the strike is happening, it is only considered crossing the picket line if it is a WGA member making revisions. Sometimes alternative routes are taken (directors changing lines, actors, etc.).
Riverdale will not be affected the final season is already written and filmed
Only if the scripts are already finished. If not, they may not even end the show the way they wanted to.
No SNL this week.
Well, that would be one great thing to come out of a potential strike.
SNL jumped the shark decades ago …
Says everyone whose favorite cast has left. Meanwhile I’ve seen three great casts since I started watching as a kid: the Ferrell-Oteri-Shannon cast, Fallon-Samberg-Poehler-Fey cast, and Wiig-Hader-Armisen-McKinnon cast (obviously leaving out a ton of amazing people too). Meanwhile my dad always loved the 80s cast with Sandler-Farley-Spade, etc. The current cast is in a bit of a lull especially with Cecily gone but they’ll bounce back.
Daytime soaps will continue full speed ahead using either scab or fi-core writers. In any case – the WGA being on strike is certainly not a world order issue. Though that being said #UnionStrong, of course!
Absolutely couldn’t agree more. Plus – there is a cornucopia of television out there to be watched while this is happening.
Maybe the storylines will improve LOL
This scares me. I really hope all parties involved can work this out and not let too much time go by. 🙏 😔
Dang it! Give the writers what they want- they deserve it. I really hope this doesn’t last too long.
Isn’t that written by AI these days?
Gah, I remember the last one we went through, granted things have changed quite a bit since then. No instead of pulling out DVD sets and old VHS tapes, we have so many streaming sites to visit as well. I do however hate that new episodes may be delayed til January, or later. All those DVD sets from the strike season look so odd next to their chunkier siblings. With that said, there’s no shows without writers I stand with them.
I turn to books instead of watching reruns
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
#WakeUpHollywood. This killed scripted and flooded the slate with so many awful reality series. Get it together and pay them!
Seriously. If you can pay an actor 20 million for a few days of voice over work you can pay a writer enough to eat to write an entire series.
I agree with your overall message but I am wondering how I missed that moment.
What actor was paid 20 million for a few days of voice over work?
How does this affect TVLine and its employees?
I do support the writers though. I don’t think they are asking for anything unreasonable. I just hope it isn’t long.
I hate that they have to go on strike because the studio can’t seem to get their heads in straight. Hopefully they get all that they ask for. At least this is happening with all major networks at the end of this production cycles. At worst there maybe a delay for the first part of next season but let’s not worry about that until the writers get fair pay.
Here’s a solution: Tell the top-paid executives at these studios and companies to take a 20% pay cut or give up their bonuses. Use that to pay the writers.
Any idea which Summer shows aren’t fully written?
Are there still scripted “summer shows” tho? Not like old days.
I can understand why they strike but how many shows were cancelled the last time they went on strike and then it’s not just writers who lose their jobs but also actors, directors, producers, set builders, sound crew, sfx crew, stunt people. I’m not saying they should not take action I’m just saying that a show is not just a writer. I also think the timing is wrong, most network shows air their season (series) finales in May and I think most of those scripts are already written. For the end of the season I don’t expect many problems.
For tv they now have the summer to try and reach an agreement, maybe the season premiere will be delayed but I think the impact on movies will be greater, especially the movies that are still being written or rewritten. It would not surprise me that some movies will be delayed. Just curious to see what tv shows that were on the bubble will now will not be renewed.
I think networks will take less and less chances and just stick with reality tv shows.
Yes, the timing is a bit unfortunate, indeed, but the contract expired on April 30, that’s just how it is.
But yes, right now, the strike falls into the area where TV show productions (at least ones on a “network” schedule) are on hiatus, so the impact might not be that great in that regard for now. Sure, the WGA’s negotiating position would be better if the strike were at a moment when the writing of TV shows is at it’s peak, and every strike day hurts the AMPTP’s members significantly and at once.
But TV is now more than ever an “all-year” business, as streaming services do not have to serve any particular schedule, not to mention the whole movie business being affected as well. Thus I think that the strike will still create a lot of pressure to get back to the table and offer an acceptable deal to the WGA.
Good. I hope this means some of these networks will air some streaming shows and make it available to the public who can’t afford subscriptions to all those streaming channels. If networks were smart they’d do this. I’m still waiting for CBS to air season 2 of the Good Fight after teasing us with the entire season 1 to get us pay for their streaming service. Also, NBC aired the first episodes of that Pitch Perfect spinoff and The Resort to entice us to pay for their Peacock streaming service. If the strike goes long enough, I hope NBC airs the rest of the season for these shows. Just a suggestion in case any network execs read these things.
This sounds like a really smart idea
The concept you mentioned was used the last time with at least one cable show (CBS airing season 1 of Dexter) so it’s likely that networks will do that with streaming shows this time. Unfortunately, that luxury is essentially also a tease, like what you mentioned happening with you and The Good Fight (albeit under different circumstances.)
Thank goodness I have about a thousand hours of recorded programming stored up that I can watch
Writing is the most important part of tv shows, movies. They should be paid more, and even the same as some “stars,” loosely stated here
I just read on Reuters that the WGA represents approximately 11, 200 members. How is it possible that the TV and movie industries only have that many writers? Also, how is it possible for a group of that size to completely stop all production that affects hundreds of thousands of other people? It seems to me that the writers and AMPTP should get back to the table and solve this situation so that so many people can get back to work.
Everyone seems to forget that without good writers, there are no shows. I don’t know what they are asking for but it seems to me that even though they are considered “off air” talent, if not there all of these shows would have a bunch of actors standing around doing nothing. David Letterman was one of the only on air talents that appreciated this the last time. In order to keep his show interesting and on the air, he paid the writers out of his pocket. If he can afford to do this, what is the networks problem? Other than the obvious, they want all of the money, or at least more than even the talent gets.