In the absence of an agreement with the major film studios and streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney, Hollywood screenwriters went on strike on Monday May 1. Why and with what consequences for future talk shows, films and series?
For weeks, Hollywood screenwriters had been warning: in the absence of an agreement with the main studios and platforms, in particular concerning an increase in their remuneration, they would go on strike from 1er may. It’s done, the negotiations having failed.
Monday, May 1, expired the agreement established for three years between the powerful single union of screenwriters, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which brings together the biggest film studios, TV channels and streaming platforms, including Disney and Netflix. Gold “we didn’t reach an agreement” And “we will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight Monday“, said the WGA. The studios’ responses to the requests were “totally insufficient, given the existential crisis the screenwriters face“, estimated the writers’ union.
The reasons for the writers’ anger
What are the writers asking for? An increase in their remuneration, minimum guarantees to benefit from a stable job and a greater share of the profits generated by the rise of streaming. Screenwriters say they are struggling to make a living from their craft, with salaries stagnating or even falling due to inflation, while their employers are making profits and increasing the salaries of their executives. Never before have they been so numerous to work at the minimum wage set by the unions.
And while authors have long been able to count on 35 to 40 weeks of work per year, the streaming behemoths now only use them for 20 to 24 weeks per year (i.e. less than 6 months out of twelve) because the length of the series is is greatly reduced. When a Desperate Housewives (2004 to 2012) had eight seasons of more than twenty episodes each, most current series only have about ten episodes per season, with no assurance of being extended beyond one.
The WGA accuses the studios of seeking to create a “gig economy“, the gig economy, in which screenwriter work would be “a completely freelance profession“.
The main stumbling blocks in the negotiations
For their part, studios say they have to cut costs due to economic pressures. The AMPTP says it presented a “global proposal“including an increase in writers’ pay but not being willing to improve this offer given”the extent of other demands“. According to its press release, the demands of the WGA in favor of a “mandatory endowment“, which would force the studios to hire a fixed number of screenwriters “for a given period, whether they are needed or not“, constitute one of the main points of disagreement.
There is also contention over how screenwriters are paid for streaming series, which often remain viewable on platforms like Netflix for years after being written. For decades, screenwriters have indeed perceived “residual rights” for the reuse of their works, for example during television reruns or DVD sales. This is either a percentage of the revenue earned by the studios for the film or program, or a fixed sum paid each time an episode is rerun.
However, with streaming, the authors receive a fixed amount each year, even in the event of worldwide success of their work as for the series Bridgerton Or Stranger Things, viewed by hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. The WGA calls for the revaluation of these amounts today “far too low in view of the massive international reuse” of these programs. She also wants to discuss the future impact of artificial intelligence on the screenwriting profession.
The entire production line shut down
If a majority of the members of the WGA, which represents 11,500 screenwriters, goes on strike, the entire production chain is put on hold, from film sets to actors, including casting directors, agents, decorators, technicians etc… And even other economic sectors such as florists, drivers and hotels.
If we have such a precise idea of it, it is because the specter of the American screenwriters’ strike of 2007-2008 is still in everyone’s mind: it had lasted a hundred days and brought the dream industry to a standstill for more than three months, resulting in colossal revenue losses ($2.1 billion less in total for the city of Los Angeles, retail sales even falling by $830 million across California during this period according to The Milken Institute) and a drying up of films and television series.
What impact on films, series and talk shows?
What consequences will the authors’ strike have on screens, large and small? According the journalist of New York Times John Koblin, the streaming platforms will be little affected: HBO is working so far in advance that everything will look normal, at least for a few months, while Netflix could fill the void by massively importing films and series from around the world.
As for film releases, prepared well in advance, the strike could be invisible at first, but it risks, if it drags on, affecting the releases planned for next year. In the end, it is the televised “late night shows” (shows such as those of Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel) that will be most quickly impacted. They indeed require to write the replies from day to day, according to the news.