Hollywood screenwriters are on strike to preserve pay and job security, studios and streaming services are bracing for a long-running dispute that has immediately forced late-night shows to stop along with numerous other productions and led to the entire industry to slow down.
Hollywood’s first strike in 15 years began Tuesday when the 11,500-member Writers Guild of America (WGA) stopped working when their contracts expired.
The union is seeking a higher minimum wage, more writers per show and less exclusivity on individual projects, among other demands. All of these benefits, they say, have diminished amid the content boom in the streaming era.
“Everything has changed, but the money has changed in the wrong direction,” said Kelly Galuska, 39, a screenwriter for FX’s “The Bear” and Netflix’s “Big Mouth,” who was protesting at Fox Studios in Los Angeles with her three week old daughter. “It is a turning point in the industry right now. And if we don’t get back on par, we never will.”
The last Hollywood strike, also initiated by the writers union, lasted from 2007 to 2008 and took three months to resolve. With no negotiations or even plans to negotiate between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents studios and production companies, it is unknown how long the writers will go without pay, or how many Major productions will be delayed, shortened or scrapped.
“We’re going to stay out for as long as it takes,” Josh Gad, a writer for shows including “Central Park” and an actor in movies like “Frozen,” said of the sit-in at Fox.
The AMPTP said in a statement that it submitted an offer with “generous increases in writers’ compensation, as well as improvements in streaming royalties” and that it was prepared to improve its offer “but was unwilling to do so due to the magnitude of the other proposals still pending on the table in which the union continues to insist”.
The writers knew very well that a stoppage was likely. However, the breakdown of contract negotiations hours before the deadline, which in previous years had ended hours or even days before, and the sudden reality of a strike, left some shocked, concerned and determined.
“When I saw the AMPTP refusals to respond and even negotiate, I was burning to get out here and stand up for what we deserve,” Jonterri Gadson, a screenwriter whose credits include “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” said at a sit-in at Amazon Studios while holding a sign that read: “I hate being here.”
All the major late-night shows, which rely on writers to write their hosts’ monologues and jokes, stopped immediately. NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’s “The Late Show” and NBC’s “Late Night” all made plans to air repeats throughout the week.
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” which was originally scheduled to air a new episode on Saturday, will also be put on hold and air a repeat, and the season’s two remaining episodes are in jeopardy.
The strike’s impact on scripted series and movies will likely take longer to be felt, though some shows, including Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” have already halted production on upcoming seasons.
If the strike persists through the summer, the scheduled fall television dates could change. Meanwhile, those with finished scripts can continue filming.
Union members also held demonstrations in New York, where lesser-known screenwriters were joined by more prominent peers such as “The Fabelmans” playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner and “Dopesick” creator Danny Strong.
Some actors, including Rob Lowe, joined the sit-ins in Los Angeles. Many screenwriters on strike, like Gad, combine writing with other jobs.
Speaking from his acting side, Gad said of his fellow writers: “We are nothing without their words. We have nothing without them. So it’s imperative that we resolve this in a way that benefits the genius that comes out of each of these people.”
Actors could soon be in a similar situation, with many of the same issues at stake in negotiations for both the SAG-AFTRA Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America. Their contracts expire in June.
