In the absence of an agreement, thousands of American television and film screenwriters will go on strike this Tuesday, May 2, their union announced, after the failure of negotiations with the main studios and platforms relating in particular to an increase in their remuneration. .
This social movement will result in the immediate interruption of successful programs, such as « late-night shows »and major delays for TV series and movies slated for release this year.
The sequel after the ad
Jon Favreau: “Cinema is no longer the main vector of pop culture”
“We have not reached an agreement with the studios and the broadcasters. We will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight” Monday (9 a.m. this Tuesday in France), said the powerful writers’ union, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), in an email to its members and obtained by AFP.
The studios’ responses to the requests were “Totally insufficient, given the existential crisis the screenwriters face”I estimated the WGA.
Potentially disastrous consequences
By late Monday, major studios and platforms, including Disney and Netflix, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced that talks with the WGA “had concluded without an agreement”.
“Hello Tomorrow! “, acerbic series against capitalism: “Trade has become a kind of religion in the United States”
The last major social movement in Hollywood dates back to the scriptwriters’ strike which paralyzed the American audiovisual industry in 2007-2008. A 100-day conflict that had cost the sector two billion dollars.
The sequel after the ad
This strike could have disastrous consequences for the American entertainment industry.
Studios accused of creating a gig economy
Screenwriters are demanding higher pay, minimum guarantees for stable employment and a greater share of the profits generated by the streaming boom. For their part, studios say they have to cut costs due to economic pressures.
Screenwriters say they are struggling to make a living from their craft, with salaries stagnating or even falling due to inflation, while their employers are making profits and increasing the salaries of their executives.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Hollywood But Were Afraid to Ask
They believe that they have never been so numerous to work at the minimum wage set by the unions, while the television networks hire fewer people to write increasingly short series.
The sequel after the ad
The WGA accuses the studios of seeking to create a « gig economy »the gig economy, in which scriptwriting work would be “an entirely freelance profession”.
A fixed amount that does not reflect the success of their work
There is also contention over how screenwriters are paid for streaming series, which often remain viewable on platforms like Netflix for years after being written.
For decades, screenwriters have perceived “residual rights”, a percentage of the revenue earned by the studios, for the reuse of their works, for example during television reruns or DVD sales. With streaming, the authors receive a fixed amount each year, even in the event of global success of their work as for the series « Bridgerton » or « Stranger Things »viewed by hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.
The WGA calls for the revaluation of these amounts today “far too weak in view of the massive international reuse” of these programs. She also wants to discuss the future impact of artificial intelligence on the screenwriting profession.
The sequel after the ad
The studios point out that the “residual rights” paid to screenwriters reached an all-time high of $494 million in 2021, up from $333 million a decade earlier, thanks in large part to the explosion in screenwriter jobs linked to the rise in demand for streaming.
“There is only one platform that is profitable”
Having been spendthrift in recent years, when rival broadcasters have sought to boost subscriber numbers at all costs, the bosses say they are now under heavy pressure from investors to cut spending and make a profit.
And they deny pretexting economic difficulties to strengthen their position in negotiations with screenwriters.
“Do you think Disney would lay off 7,000 people for the fun of it? », said a source close to the AMPTP. According to her, “There’s only one profitable platform right now, and that’s Netflix”. The movie industry “is also a very competitive sector”.
