Why Are Hollywood Writers on a Strike? How Will It Impact Your Favourite Shows?

The Writers of American Guild have gone on a strike again for the first time in 15 years.

Writers Guild of America protest for pair pay  in the streaming area.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

For the first time in 15 years, Hollywood's writers have gone on a strike again.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced on Monday, 1 May, that 11,500 members of its union would stop working as of Tuesday afternoon (2 May) following the breakdown of their negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

So, why are the writers protesting? What does this mean for TV and OTT platforms? And what impact will it have on the viewers? Here's a breakdown:

The Announcement

The WGA's board of directors, including both East and West branches, unanimously called the strike on Tuesday, beginning the walkout at 12.01 am (Pacific Daylight Time).

"Though our Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing," WGA West wrote on their official Twitter handle.

But Why Is the WGA Going on a Strike?

Hollywood has significantly changed with the rise of streaming services since 2007, which have upended the traditional pay structure in the industry. Since 20 March, the WGA had been negotiating over fair pay with production houses like Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount, Sony, Amazon, Disney and Apple, which all fall under the umbrella of AMPTP.

• The writer's union negotiates a contract every three years, under which all its members are employed with the AMPTP.

• The current contract between the WGA and ATMPTP was set to end on 1 May.

• However, when the terms of their negotiations weren't met, 97.85 percent of WGA members voted in favour of a strike in mid-April, as per reports.

What's the role of AMPTP? The AMPTP is a trade association based in California, which represents over 350 American television and film production companies in collective bargaining negotiations with entertainment industry trade unions like the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America, among others.

• AMPTP includes film studios like Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, and Walt Disney Studios, and US TV networks like Fox, CBS, ABC, and NBC.

• In addition to the popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime, it includes some independent and cable companies as well.

The WGA has alleged that seasoned writers are not being recognised with their deserving wages and are stagnating, as success is not factored into streaming residuals. While the writers are putting in a lot of hours for less pay, the streaming services are booming.

What is a residual payment? Residuals are a form of royalty payments which financially benefit the screenwriters, when a show or a film sells well.

• These payments are calculated on the basis of the domestic and global sales performances, adhering to the rules set out in the industry negotiated agreements.

• However, the residual payment for streaming shows are lower than broadcast shows that airs reruns on cable or syndication.

• This is because streamers often limit the distribution of their shows for exclusivity.

• While writers in TV often get paid per episode, which usually consists of 22 or more episodes each season, streaming services typically produce only 8 to 13 episodes.

In the meantime, entertainment conglomerates are witnessing financial losses, lay-offs, and have been shelving films and TV shows.

"They have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership," the WGA announced.

Writers fill the placards with slogans for their union.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@WGAWest)

In a statement announcing the strike, the WGA alleged that the companies' behaviour has created a 'gig economy' inside a union workforce which refuses to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, the creation of 'day rate' in comedy variety, and stonewalls free work for screenwriters and artificial intelligence for all writers.

• Broadcast television uses a 'reward for success' model, which offers a better residual payment to the writers if their show is a hit.

• For OTT shows, writers are paid a fixed amount of sum even if the show is successful.

• Lately, streaming platforms and studios have majorly cut spending on labour by ordering shorter seasons, and dropping old shows from their own catalogue.

• Showrunners on streaming series receive only 46 percent of the pay that showrunners on broadcast series receive, the WGA claimed.

Another trend on the rise is the 'mini rooms', which has replaced the 'pilot development' process which was earlier used to gauge a show's potential. This, too, has had a significant negative impact on the writers' payment.

• Traditionally, when a show goes to a series, a writer writes a pilot, the network reads it, and if they like it, they shoot it and order it to a series.

• The network then gives the showrunner a budget to hire a writing team.

• The showrunner will always hire upper-level writers first, then they hire mid-level writers, and eventually, with the left over money, entry level writers are hired.

• A mini room, on the other hand, is a condensed writers' room.

• Instead of ordering a show to series, the network here gives the showrunner a very small budget to higher a writing staff to write a couple more episodes.

• The showrunner then hires a very small staff consisting of only a couple of upper-level writers, skipping the mid and entry-level writers, since the stakes are so high.

Netflix recently ordered its first ever pilot for the single-camera comedy Little Sky, starring Samara Weaving.

Streaming giant Netflix enjoys around 200 million paid subscribers.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Why Did the Studios Reject WGA's Proposal?

In their pattern of demands, the WGA asked the studios for standardised compensation for films – whether they are released theatrically or on streaming platforms – and increased studio contributions to pension plan and health fund, among other things.

• The AMPTP said in a media statement that the studios approached the negotiations with the long-term health and stability of the industry as their priority.

• The AMPTP claimed to have presented a comprehensive proposal to the WGA on 30 April, which incorporated "generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals."

• The AMPTP also indicated to improve the offer for the guild "but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the Guild continues to insist upon."

How Will This Strike Affect the OTTs?

The strike will have a cascading effect on the film and streaming productions, depending on how long the protest persists.

• America's late-night talk shows are majorly staffed by WGA members, who contribute to the up-to-the-minute write ups, including commentary and jokes.

• As a result, some shows are expected to air re-runs of their previous episodes.

• Soap operas are also likely to get disrupted by the strike as they are traditionally not written much in advance before they're filmed.

• The latest seasons of big comedies and dramas that are currently airing, however, will remain unaffected as they are already filmed and written.

• Films and cinema will also remain unaffected by the strike as they are already written and shot years ago.

Benedict Cumberbatch in a still from SNL.

(Photo Courtesy: TWitter)

The last WGA writers' strike took place in 2007-2008 and lasted for 100 days. It had an immediate impact on US television and film across the board, which led to several lay-offs within its first week. The strike was carried out to demand better residual payment, union protection from the new media, among other things.

• Popular shows like Simpsons, The Office, 30 Rock, Mad Men, Gossip Girl, Breaking Bad and Lost, which were in production at the time, were majorly affected.

• The California economy lost an estimated $2.1 billion over the four-month strike, as per a report by The Guardian.

• Late-night show hosts such as Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, and Stephen Colbert returned on air but with their own improvised material.

 How Will the Strike Affect What We Watch?

The WGA has warned that the strike will impact network television season, which incorporates 45 precent of episodes made by entertainment giants like Disney, Paramount and Comcast NBCUniversal.

• The most immediate effect of the strike that viewers will notice will be on the late-night shows and Saturday Night Live.

• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show, are all likely to stop production from 2 May, Deadline reported.

According to Variety, these are the films and TV shows that are likely to get affected by the strike:

• Abbott Elementary

• Cobra Kai

• Yellowjackets

• Big Mouth

• Good Omens

• Gutfeld!

• House of the Dragon

• Rap Sh!t