The Writers Strike Comes To An End

by Wali Warsame

Section Editor

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Course.

Act 1: The Strike Unfolds

In the spring of 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met for negotiations on behalf of Hollywood studios and production companies as well as its writers.

Upon series of requests listed within the newly proposed contract by WGA, they were met with a hold in response from AMPTP, leading to a strike from WGA’s nearly 11,500 writers early May of 2023.

Late September, WGA announced that they had reached a “tentative agreement” with AMPTP after 148 days, the second longest writers strike to the 1988 strike that lasted 154 days.

Act 2: Why Go On Strike?

A protest outside Paramount Pictures writing “Writer’s Block” onto a sign on May 2, 2023 (Getty Images)

Hollywood has witnessed declarations of disapproval from its writers for decades. Since the 50s, there have been eight different strikes from WGA’s writers. In 1952, writers went on strike against Film and TV producers over script ownership, material submission from radio and theatrical writers, and similar to today; a change in compensation.

The alliance of WGA writers have demanded things such as the assurance that they will not lose their position as writers to artificial intelligence.

Staffing has become a recurring issue for writers. The union voiced its complaints on “mini rooms,” a collection of only a handful of writers working on a series that oftentimes may or may not move into production.

Protesters holding signs saying “Pay your writers or we’ll spoil Succession” and “Honk if you support writers” (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

One of the main complaints coming from screenwriters is residual pay. Which is when actors, directors, and many other individuals involved in the production press of a film or series receive composition for their work from reruns and other airing long after the original release.

The adaptation and growth in popularity from streaming services has made it difficult for the practice of residual pay to continue for anyone. To comply with the changes in viewing of films and series, WGA asks streaming services for alternative forms of payment such as upfront fees.

Act 3: The New Contract

The contract will last three years (September 25, 2023 - May 1, 2026) until the next negotiation meeting, ratified after 99% of WGAs writers voted in favor of the new contract.

An email sent by WGAs negotiation committee to their members states

“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exponential - with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of their membership,”

Everything Everywhere All At Once producer Jonathan Wang and writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert at the 2023 Oscars (Angela Weiss/Getty Images)

The new deal consists of an improvement in pay for writers such as an 18% increase in pay for feature length projects with a budget of $30 million or more. Several other changes in pay within streaming services are presented within the new contract, including foreign streaming residuals. For streaming services available globally, writers will receive a 76% residual pay increase. Using Netflix as an example, the current three year residual pay for a one hour episode will increase from $18,684 to $32,830.

Besides pay, the topic of Artificial Intelligence makes an appearance within the contract. Studios will be prevented from using AI to write or rewrite literary materialism and AI-generated work will not be considered source material underneath MBA.

There are also adjustments with writer rooms such as six or fewer episodes requiring a minimum of three writers, eight to twelve episodes requiring a minimum of five writers, and thirteen or more episodes requiring at least six writers.

Find more information on the details of the new contract at WGAcontract2023.org.