#why is wga striking?

[darkangel1791]

What do striking Hollywood writers want? A look at demands

The first Hollywood strike in 15 years began Tuesday as the economic pressures of the streaming era prompted unionized TV and film writers to picket for better pay outside major studios, a work stoppage that already is leading most late-night shows to air reruns. (May 2)

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published 12:31 PM EDT, May 3, 2023

The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike Tuesday after negotiations with Hollywood studios that began in March failed to result in an agreement. The guild has billed the issues behind the labor dispute as “an existential crisis.” Writers say they’re facing a host of new issues brought on by streaming and other recent technological shifts in the industry.

Here’s a look at the demands behind the first Hollywood strike in 15 years, as the industry braces for a long hiatus:

INCREASED PAY

The guild is seeking higher compensation for writers across the board. Though there are more jobs available to WGA members than ever before because of the proliferation of streaming services, pay for most writers is down. Ten years ago, 33% of TV writers were paid the minimum rate. Now, according to the WGA, 49% are. Accounting for inflation, writer pay has declined 14% in the last five years. The median weekly writer-producer pay is down 23% over the last decade, with inflation factored in. Writers say many of their members aren’t even making a living wage. They are also seeking increases for their pension plan and health fund.

BETTER RESIDUALS

For more than half a century, residuals have been a foundational way for writers to make money. But streaming has upended those payouts. Writers used to be handsomely compensated anytime their work went into syndication or was sold for overseas territories. Reruns meant a big payday. But now, series and films often simply land a streaming service and stay there. Streaming services also generally don’t share viewership data with filmmakers and writers, meaning writers don’t know how valuable their work has been. To replace backend residuals, the WGA is seeking more upfront fees.

STAFFING REQUIREMENTS

The union wants TV shows to staff a certain number of writers for a period of time. At issue is the rising practice of “mini rooms” where only a handful of writers are working on a series. Such writer rooms are often employed during development, before a show is greenlit. That means writers can be working on a series that doesn’t get picked up for as much as a year after they worked on it, or not at all. The process has circumvented some of the protections WGA members have from being overworked and understaffed. The use of mini rooms accelerated during the pandemic, with writers often meeting by Zoom — a still commonplace practice.

SHORTER EXCLUSIVITY DEALS

Many of the rules around TV writing are also still based on a now increasingly outdated model. Writers might have once expected to spend almost a year working on a 22- to 25-episode season of broadcast TV. Now, the average season is much shorter. Popular shows like “Bridgerton” might have only eight episodes. Not only does that diminish writers’ per-episode pay, it can limit them from working on other programs if they’re tied to longer terms of exclusivity.

ASSURANCE ON AI

Writers are also increasingly concerned that producers will use artificial intelligence to write scripts or at least fill in the blanks on unfinished screenplays. The fast-advancing technology has potentially widespread ramifications for Hollywood, and, in some cases, may be a useful tool. But the WGA wants production companies to agree to safeguards around its usage.

[fleshadept]

HOT LABOR SUMMER

[nimblermortal]

Heck yes Tonys halted due to WGA strike

Heck yes Stranger Things halted due to WGA strike

Heck yes no new Last Week Tonight due to WGA strike

IMPACTFUL THINGS AND THINGS I LIKE BEING HALTED DUE TO WGA STRIKE IS GOOD

PAY DEM WRITERS! BOOYAH!

[uri59]

"The eyes of labor are upon us"

[fans4wga]

WHY THEY STRIKE: Alex O'Keefe (WGA), Writer on The Bear

The Bear won the WGA Award for Best Comedy Series in March 2023. O'Keefe attended the ceremony with a negative bank account and dressed in a bowtie purchased with credit. He was paid $43,000 pre-taxes and fees for his work on Season 1 of the series, which is currently up for 13 Emmy nominations.

[thatrandomblogsays]

We really went through the whole writers strike and learned nothing. We got told that issues with writing and seasons are often because of producers but writers bear the brunt of online hate. HOTD had two episodes cut AND was in production during the writers strike and I’ve seen only one person acknowledge that it definitely impacted aspects of the show whereas everyone else assumes that Condal And Hess and the team just is stupid and untalented. C’mon guys.

[lord-of-the-ducks]

Not sure if anyone else has already shared this, but it feels important to circulate, especially with the strikes and the upcoming season

Edit: wanted to clarify that people should read the full article. The title is a bit misleading, but it’s still a shitty situation, and other actors from the show also describe their experiences

[doriandrifting]

Fun fact about Will Byers is that he’s always down for a labor strike.

[bloodybellycomb]

out of the ashes of the 2023 writers strike, another beautiful, completely unintentional, homoerotic phoenix will arise and it will fly into the sky of a male-dominated tv show and this majestic creature will consume the minds of multitudes of impressionable youths

and those glorious, dedicated legions will write profoundly holy and depraved scriptures, the likes of which the world has never seen and soon, these sinful acolytes will rejoice as they discover how salvation can only be found on the lips of your damnation.

This is the legacy of a writers strike; it's splendorous; its awe-inspiring. It will even be proclaimed that this unfathomable power is almost...supernatural.

[whyissupernaturaltrending]

September 25 and 27, 2023 - The Destiel Meme does it again [x].

It's not the first time that the use of the destiel meme to share news causes Supernatural to trend, but it is nontheless entertaining to see. This time, it's following the news of possible end and success of the WGA strike following a tentative agreement [x] [x].

The details are being finalized, but the news is being shared across the social media platforms. On Tumblr, this means the destiel meme. A few hours ago, as the "wga strike" tag trended, "destiel" was included as a secondary tag (screenshot below). It looks like it's evolved into a separate trend now.

[assiraphales]

I hope for everyone’s sake that production stops completely on shows rather than ill conceived attempts at pulling together half assed storylines bc last time there was a strike (2007/2008) I was ten years old and I still haven’t forgotten that fan favorite autistic coded sweet bean zack addy from bones was revealed to be an apprentice to a cannibal serial killer in a shock twist that never should have come to fruition

[autistic-katara]

can the fucking studios pay their actors i don’t think i can survive with the byler fandom being this dry much longer

[jamesrodayrodriguezpresents]

SAG-AFTRA is officially set to join the WGA in going on strike. No filming, premiere attendence or other promotion of any kind allowed.

I hope to see nothing but support for this decision.

[toonheartz]

if you've heard of the tree law thing going around where universal chopped up the trees wga was picketing under so they'd have no shade they also blocked off the sidewalks which is extremely dangerous for any pedestrians

here's a petition to construct k-rails to allow for a safe, temporary pedestrian lane

here's where that's linked on wgawest's linktree

[becasbelt]

need AI to gain sentience but instead of turning evil and trying to overthrow us, they just find out about the WGA strike and say "wtf pay writers more they deserve it"

[sunflowerofchaos]

Wtf why is no one talking about this???

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