Blockbuster bust-up: Hollywood writers' union sparks industry chaos with first strike in 15 years amid streaming row
2 May 2023, 06:44 | Updated: 2 May 2023, 06:56
Television and movie writers are going on strike for the first time in 15 years in a dispute over fair pay in the streaming era.
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The Writers Guild of America (WGA) said that its 11,500 members will head to the picket lines on Tuesday.
Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers' current deal expired just after midnight.
All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members.
The dispute could hit TV and film productions depending on how long the strike lasts.
Late-night US talk shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon are expected to go dark
immediately and air re-runs.
Next to be disrupted could be daytime soap operas since they are traditionally written not long before they are filmed.
Netflix, which makes shows around the world, has said it can feed its service with shows produced outside the US but its US-based series will be affected if a strike drags on.
Writers say they have suffered financially during the streaming TV boom, in part due to shorter seasons and smaller residual payments.
They are seeking pay increases and changes to industry practices they say force them to work more for less money.
Half of TV series writers now work at minimum salary levels, compared with one-third in the 2013-14 season, according to Guild statistics.
The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to call for a strike, effective at the stroke of midnight. Writers, they said, are facing an "existential crisis".
"The companies' behaviour has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing," the WGA said in a statement.
"From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a 'day rate' in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership."
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that bargains on behalf of studios and production companies, signalled late on Monday that negotiations fell short of an agreement before the current contract expired.
The AMPTP said it presented an offer with "generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals".
In a statement, the AMPTP said that it was prepared to improve its offer "but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon".
Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But WGA members say they are making much less money and working under more strained conditions.
When Hollywood writers have gone on strike, it has often been lengthy. The longest WGA strike on record was in 1988, lasting 153 days, followed by the 1960 strike at 146 days, and then the 2007-08 strike at 100 days.