[Music: That City]
HOLLYWOOD CAME TO A STOP IN MAY WHEN THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA ANNOUNCED VIA X, FORMERLY KNOWN AS TWITTER, THE WGA WEST AND WGA EAST UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO CALL A STRIKE EFFECTIVE MAY 2 2023.
[screaching halt sound]
WHY? THE STRIKE RESULTED IN THE GUILD BEING UNABLE TO REACH A SATISFACTORY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE ALLIANCE OF MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION PRODUCERS DURING NEGOTIATIONS.
EVERY THREE YEARS THE GUILD AND AMPTP GATHER FOR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS BUT THE EMERGENCE OF STREAMING SERVICES THREW A CURVEBALL INTO THESE TALKS.
ZAYD AYERS DOHRN, A PROFESSOR IN THE RADIO TELEVISION AND FILM DEPARTMENT OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AND A LONG-TIME MEMBER OF WGA SHED SOME INSIGHT ON HOW EXACTLY STREAMING AFFECTED WRITERS.
[Zayd Dohrn] Being in the guild means that you’ve sold screenplays and teleplays, you’re already somewhat successful in that field. It used to be that if you’ve got to that point, you could kind of make a living through a combination of commissions, writers’ rooms for television, selling screenplays.
ANOTHER WAY WRITERS MADE THEIR MONEY WAS THROUGH RESIDUALS.
[Dohrn] Residuals meant that if you’ve got a show on the air, or a film that was successful, every time it played, you got a little bit of money back from that. So a lot of writers, you know, they would use residuals to bridge the gap between other writing jobs so they could count on checks coming in if they achieved a certain level of success, but basically, the companies took the opportunity of the technological shift toward streaming to say, your contracts don’t cover streaming. So we don’t have to pay you anything if we put your content on streaming platforms.
GOING INTO THIS YEAR’S NEGOTIATIONS THE GUILD WANTED TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM ALONG WITH PUTTING IN SAFEGUARDS FOR WRITERS FROM A.I. HOWEVER, AMPTP WAS NOT BUDGING. THUS, THE GUILD WALKED AWAY FROM THE TABLE AND THE STRIKE BEGAN.
[Daredevil theme song]
WRITER, PRODUCER, AND WGA WEST BOARD OF DIRECTOR MOLLY NUSSBAUM RAN THE PICKET LINE AT PARAMOUNT STUDIOS.
NUSSBAUM HAS WORKED ON SEVERAL SHOWS INCLUDING NETFLIX’S UMBRELLA ACADEMY AND THE UPCOMING DISNEY+ SHOW DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN.
[Molly Nussbaum] This was financially devastating for so many people. It was incredibly stressful. There were things about the summer that were just so, so hard and as a captain and especially as a lot coordinator, you’re often the person that people could find and get to express these concerns.
DESPITE THE HARDSHIPS OF PICKETING, SECRETARY AND TREASURER OF WGA WEST BETSY THOMAS SHARED HOW THE STRIKE PRESENTED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GUILD.
[Betsy Thomas] I think it is, it’s a real mistake that companies make when they let, you know, labor go on strike because it gives us a chance to actually bond and come together more than we ever have in the past.
SAG-AFTRA’S DECISION TO GO ON STRIKE IN JULY, DIDN’T BENEFIT COMPANIES EITHER, LEADING TO WHAT THOMAS WOULD DESCRIBE AS A GAME OF CHICKEN BETWEEN THE WRITERS AND THE COMPANIES.
[Thomas] I think SAG-AFTRA’s strike definitely helped give us greater leverage and forced them back at the table because they’re not shooting anything. They can’t shoot anything. They can’t promote anything, you know, everything would come to a screeching halt.
EVENTUALLY, THEY RESUMED NEGOTIATIONS. ON SEPTEMBER 24, IT WAS ANNOUNCED THE WGA AND AMPTP HAD REACHED A TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON THE 2023 MINIMUM BASIC AGREEMENT. THREE DAYS LATER, THE STRIKE OFFICIALLY CAME TO AN END, MARKING THE SECOND-LONGEST LABOR STOPPAGE IN WGA HISTORY, TOTALING 148 DAYS. JUST A WEEK SHORT OF THE LONGEST STRIKE, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN 1988.” WGA WEST BOARD OF DIRECTOR SCOTT ALEXANDER WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE 1988 STRIKE NOTED A DIFFERENCE IN REACTIONS BETWEEN THE OUTCOMES OF THE TWO.
[Scott Alexander] The problem is that when it ended, there was a bit of a huh, a general shrug, because nobody knew what we had really gotten and we really didn’t get much. It was kind of a crappy one. so this one feels so much better because it’s very, it’s very specific.
THESE SPECIFICALLITES TOUCH ON SAFEGUARDS AGAINST AI, COMPANIES PAYING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE, STUDIOS HAVING TO PROVIDE WRITERS STREAMING DATA, MINIMUM STAFFING, STREAMING RESIDUALS, A GUARANTEED SECOND STEP FOR SCREENWRITERS AND SO MUCH MORE. IN TERMS OF TOTAL VALUE, THE DEAL IS $233 MILLION A YEAR. MORE THAN 3X ANY OTHER DEAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE GUILD. AN ACHIEVEMENT THOMAS HOPES SETS A PRECEDENT FOR FUTURE NEGOTIATIONS.
[Thomas] Everything that we gained, we can build upon. Again, I think my hope for the town in general, is that the success of our strike will change the way the other unions approach their own negotiations.
DOHRN EXPANDS ON THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF THE WRITERS’ STRIKE ON UNIONS AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
[Dohrn] We’ll see the Hollywood and the industries that, make entertainment show business, continue to be a part of this large uprising of labor that’s happening all over the country right now. I think we’re just one part of a much larger movement, which is basically saying, over the last few decades, too much wealth has been concentrated in too few hands, and it’s time for workers to take some of that power back.
SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW? THOMAS SAYS THAT WRITERS ARE READY TO GET BACK TO WORK HOWEVER…
[Thomas] We can’t shoot anything without the actors, you know. we can’t produce television shows or movies without the actors.
THUS THE WRITERS’ PICKETING DAYS AREN’T OVER AS THEY CONTINUE TO STRIKE WITH SAG-AFTRA IN SOLIDARITY, BUT THERE IS STILL WORK TO BE DONE FOR THE WRITERS ACCORDING TO NUSSBAUM.
[Nussbaum] I think that all writers feel passionately about ending free work and making sure we can do more to protect writers from being pressured into or asked to do any free labor. and i think we have a lot more work to do when it comes to watching what really happens with AI and generative AI over the next few years and making sure we protect the future of this profession in that sense.
EVEN THOUGH THE FIGHT TO MAKE WRITING A SUSTAINABLE CAREER IS STILL ONGOING, THIS STRIKE HAS CAUSED HUGE STRIDES TO BE MADE AND HAS SENT A STRONG MESSAGE TO BIG CORPORATIONS.
[Music: That City]
[Thomas] We took on the biggest media companies in the world and we won, so if we can do it, anyone can.
FOR WNUR NEWS I’M KARRAH TOATLEY
Music from Tunetank.com
Track: That City by MusicArea
https://tunetank.com/track/1070-that-city/
