Los Angeles (USA), May 8 (EFE).- The creator of “The Wire”, David Simon, announced on Monday that the streaming platform HBO had suspended his contract after joining the writers’ strike of Hollywood that began on May 1st.
“The day HBO called me to suspend my contract after 25 years of writing TV for them, I was doing the right thing,” Simon tweeted, accompanied by a video of him taking part in the strike.
Both Simon and the hundreds of writers who have made their claims against media companies heard have been using the hashtag #WGAStrong, which can be translated as “WGA stays strong”, in reference to the English acronym by which the writer is known. Writers Guild of America
After not reaching an agreement to extend the contract that linked them with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP), WGA members have already begun to receive notifications from the studios about how this interruption will affect their work activity.
Companies like Amazon, Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple and NBC Universal that have let them know that their “services” and “commitments” are “suspended” until the strike is called off and that this could affect seriously to their contractual relationships.
One of these cases is that of David Simon who, in addition to “The Wire”, had worked on well-known series and miniseries such as “Generation Kill”, “Treme”, “The Deuce”, “The Plot Against America” or ” Show me a Hero”.
The series “The Wire”, of which Simon was also an executive producer, began broadcasting in 2002 and its plot, based on police officers from the city of Baltimore who fight against the drug business, became popular very quickly.
Considered one of the most iconic productions on American television in recent decades, the five seasons of “The Wire” have featured stars like Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan, among others, in its cast.
Last week, WGA published on its website the union’s requests for the AMPTP, among which it highlighted the demand for a fair payment of the “residuals”, the remuneration that the work team receives for the broadcast of their projects.
To achieve this, the scriptwriters demanded more transparency from the streaming platforms about the times their work was reproduced by a user.
Another of the important points that the AMPTP refused to discuss is the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the production of scripts.
Thus, the indefinite nature of the strike leaves a great unknown as to how long they could last.
The last writers’ walkout occurred in November 2007 and lasted for nearly 100 days, resulting in approximately $2.1 billion in losses to the US media industry and the layoff of 37,000 professionals.
