The dream machine holds its breath: Hollywood screenwriters threaten to strike starting May 1. For what ? How ? With what risks? A similar strike in 2007 had major consequences.
Nothing’s going well these days in Hollywood. The industry is under threat of a massive strike by screenwriters. An impending strike. It is indeed the 1er May the expiry of the three-year agreement 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 largest film studios, TV channels and streaming platforms.
The writers have decided to take advantage of this opportunity to renegotiate their compensation upwards. To put pressure, the WGA, which represents 11,500 screenwriters, has arguments: its members voted overwhelmingly (97.85%) on April 17 in favor of a strike, in case the negotiations do not succeed.
The Reasons Of The Wrath
“As business boomed, and studios raked in some $30 billion in annual profits, writers’ pay dropped“, notes Laura Blum-Smith, one of the leaders of the WGA West quoted in the Guardian (in English). “Studios vastly undervalue screenwriters and threaten the viability of the profession“, she adds. The journalist of the New York Times John Koblin says the same thing: according to him, “some veteran screenwriters claim that they work more than before and earn as much, or even less, than a few years ago.”
According to the WGA, 50% of screenwriters today are paid the union minimum, compared to a third eight years ago. Certainly, the union minimum is now set at 7412 dollars per week (about 6700 euros). But while authors have long been able to count on 35 to 40 weeks of work per year, the streaming behemoths only employ them for 20 to 24 weeks per year (i.e. less than 6 months out of twelve). In question: the length of the series, which has been 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.
And we are not talking about the threat that artificial intelligence poses to the authors since it could soon contribute to designing the scenarios.
What do the writers want?
What are the writers asking for? An increase in their remuneration, with an increase in the minimum wage, and an update of the rules so that they receive a fairer share of royalties for rebroadcasts on the platforms. Because the latter, which do not communicate on their audiences (unlike cinemas and television channels), currently pay them a very small share, even in the event of notable success. Finally, they hope to obtain an extension when rewriting and last minute corrections are requested (which is commonplace with required presence on the set), and compensation for the periods of hiatus between two seasons of the same series.
The specter of the Hundred Days Strike in 2007
Nervousness in Hollywood is therefore at its height a few days before the 1er may. A race against time is engaged in the negotiations. Because if all the scriptwriters stop chorusing on their keyboards, the whole production chain would be put on hold, from the film sets to the actors, including the casting directors, the agents, the decorators, the 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. Only reality TV came out a winner, allowing The Apprentice with Donald Trump, program on the decline, to regain popularity… offering in passing a launching pad for the future President of the United States.
What impact on your favorite films and series?
Today, what consequences would a hard strike by authors on screens, large and small, have? According to New York Times journalist John Koblin, streaming platforms would be little affected: HBO is working so far in advance that everything would look normal, at least for a few months, while Netflix could fill the void by importing massive amounts of movies and series from around the world. As for film releases, prepared well in advance, the strike could be invisible at first, but it could, if it dragged on, affect the releases planned for next year. In the end, it is the late night television shows (shows such as those of Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel) that would be the most impacted. They indeed require to write the replies from day to day, according to the news.