First in 2007, now in 2023, the WGA is advocating for the writers of our favorite TV shows and films.
The WGA, or Writers Guild of America, is on strike for the first time since 2007. The strike began at 12:01, May 2nd, after the AMPTP, or Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Production failed to fairly renegotiate the contracts of over 11,500 WGA writers, who are responsible for writing the television programs and films we know and love. For six weeks, both parties were working tirelessly to agree on the new contract terms, which, as they currently stand, the WGA believes are perpetuating and exaggerating the wage gap between the studio executives and the creative minds from which they profit.
What do they want?
Simply put, the writers want a bigger piece of the pie– and they deserve it. It’s a common misconception that TV and film writers are millionaires. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I personally know around 20 television writers who are making a salary similar to mine. While I’m living comfortably in the NYC area, and these days, every employed person should consider themselves lucky, it’s concerning to realize writers (the backbone of media) are making smaller and smaller fractions of the budgets allocated to create the content. The writers want their fair share. Who could blame them?
The complete list of terms outlined by the WGA is available for public review, and if you take the time to read it, you’ll notice the intricacies that the job of a film and/or television writer entails. As a writer, you’re essentially a freelancer. If you are or ever have been a freelance writer or freelancer of any kind, you know how it feels to sweat between jobs. Now, add the fact that most writers are hired for “guild minimum” rates. These rates can vary depending on the type of writer you are and the project you’re working on, but the main issue is that there’s too much money floating around the entertainment industry for writers’ salaries to be minimized, especially since there are 8 top Hollywood CEOs who raked in nearly $800 million while compensation for tv writers specifically has fallen 23% in the last decade. This strike is the WGA’s way of letting the world know that there’s no reason for such a broad wage gap in the industry and that a fair-and-square deal is in order to protect those on whom Hollywood relies most.
In NYC and LA, thousands of writers are publicly and vocally expressing their grievances. Just take a look at your IG stories and you won’t need to browse long before discovering your favorite actors, directors, and other industry professionals standing in solidarity with the writers of your favorite programs, most of whom you probably wouldn’t even recognize if they were eating dinner beside you at a restaurant. It’s comforting to see celebrities using their voices, platforms, and images to support the WGA strikers. After all, without the words contributed by writers, every last one of the entertainment industry’s projects would cease to exist. In fact, this is a phenomenon we will start to see in the coming days. Saturday Night Live, as just one example among many, many others, will not air this weekend, and neither will countless other programs that rely on daily or weekly material. While that may suck for us, it’s nothing compared to what the writers are going through, many of whom will not be paid for the duration of the strike.
Historical context
The 2007 strike lasted for 100 days and was one of the longest strikes in Hollywood’s history. The strike was over issues related to compensation for content made for new media and digital platforms, such as streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. At the time, streaming was an entirely unpaved landscape, and writers were concerned about how their compensation would be affected now that media was to be consumed in a radically different way. The WGA argued that writers should receive a share of the revenue generated by content made for digital platforms, while the AMPTP argued that writers should be paid a flat fee for their work.
The strike also highlighted the changing landscape of the industry, with digital platforms becoming more important to the entertainment business. It wasn’t just about wages and compensation, but also about control and ownership of content. The writers wanted a share of the revenue generated by content made for digital platforms, which they saw as a new source of income.
When the parties were unable to strike a deal they believed to be mutually fair, delays and cancellations of numerous television shows and films occurred, which could happen in the wake of this new strike. The former strike ultimately ended in February of 2008 and effectively paved the way for the new generation of entertainment writers to have more equity in the material they create. It demonstrated the power of organized labor and the importance of negotiating fair compensation for workers in the entertainment industry, and while the industry has been able to avoid such a complicated and messy conflict for over a decade, we seem to be entering a similar dilemma– especially since the AMPTP has flat out rejected many of the WGA’s proposals and refused to counteroffer.
My opinion
Personally, I stand with the WGA. PAY PEOPLE WHAT THEY’RE WORTH. It’s hard enough for hungry creatives to reach a level in their career in which they can sell their work to support themselves, but the constant corporate bullying and perpetual greed are enough to make even the best and brightest minds of our generation give up and pursue other careers. I’d hate to see that, and I’d hate to see future prospective creatives be deterred from creating masterpieces after learning that what they were working, auditioning, and proving themselves for would barely pay the bills, while the CEOs are raking in a higher percentage of available budgets year after year. It’s just not right, and thankfully the WGA is ready to scream that truth to the world until the conflict is resolved. Bless you, WGA!