The Writers Guild of America on Monday authorized a strike — the yes vote earned nearly 98%. That means if the WGA can’t negotiate a new film and TV contract, thousands of writers could walk off the job two weeks from now.
It’d be the first work stoppage in 15 years. The last one lasted more than three months and cost the local economy more than $2 billion.
The main point of contention now is writers’ pay, says Justin Halpern, a member of the WGA West board, and a writer, executive producer, and showrunner for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and HBO Max’s animated series “Harley Quinn.”
“Over the course of the years, orders for shows have been shorter, the writing time is now shorter. … We're being paid less for … creating the show. They put us in things called mini rooms, where we're paid minimum … and we're supposed to come up with the foundation for those shows. … There's a lot, a much larger percentage [of writers] who are having trouble just putting together a full year to be able to live in Los Angeles.”
He adds that if the show becomes a series, most of the writers in those mini rooms probably won’t end up as staff members who make a good living.
Residuals have also changed now. Katie Kilkenny, who covers labor and union issues for The Hollywood Reporter, explains, “Back in the day, you would have multiple windows by which writers could earn additional income. So a movie might be replayed on a television network, and then there was the home video market — DVDs and VHS. … Now with shows and movies simply going on to streaming … there are just fewer points at which writers can be paid.”
She points out that streamers have been laying off people and dropping underperforming shows “because Wall Street, which had buoyed up the streamers for so long based off of the potential there, has turned on them.”
Halpern argues that the writers are asking for justifiable residuals.
“If they are pulling a show because it's not making money for them, we're not asking you to share in profits that aren't there. What we're saying simply is: If this is a huge revenue generator for you, whether it be subscriptions or because of views, we would like to have an equitable share of that profit.”
He points out that “Abbot Elementary” airs on Hulu the day after it broadcasts on ABC, then it airs on HBO Max when the season is done. “These shows are not just living in the one place that they first air. They're being monetized in many different ways across many different platforms. And because of that, it's generating income that’s … never getting to us.”
What can viewers expect if a strike happens? Kilkenny says late-night shows would go down first because they rely on daily writing. More reality and non-fiction content would air, and streamers could resurface older content.