Hollywood Hit With Writers Strike After Talks With AMPTP Fail; Guild Slams Studios For “Gig Economy” Mentality

Dominic Patten, David Robb and Peter White
·5 min read

The Writers Guild of America is on strike.

“Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal – and though your strike vote gave us the leverage to make some gains – the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing,” the WGA said in a message sent directly to members just now. “We must now exert the maximum leverage possible to get a fair contract by withholding our labor,” the guild leadership added. “Members of the Negotiating Committee, Board and Council will be out with you on the picket lines.”

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News of the strike, which takes effect in a few hours, came late Monday after the guild’s negotiations with the AMPTP failed to reach an agreement on a new film and scripted TV contract. It’s the WGA’s first strike since the 100-day walkout of 2007-08.

Less than an hour after talks with the studios ended and over three hours before their current contract officially expires, the guild also made a public announcement of the labor action :

 Following the unanimous recommendation of the WGA Negotiating Committee, the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Council of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), acting upon the authority granted to them by their memberships, have voted unanimously to call a strike, effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.

The decision was made following six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.

The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a “day rate” in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, 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.

Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon.

As well as declaring a strike status tonight, the guild have said when and where the first picketing will take place. With locations such as Netflix’s Hollywood offices, CBS TV City near the Grove and the other usual suspects of Disney, Universal, and more, the initial pickets in LA will go up at 1 PM PT.

The declaration by the guild follows a statement at 7:59 PM Monday from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that bluntly stated: “Negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA concluded without an agreement today.”

Illuminating members on what big difference were between what the WGA was asking for and what they say the studios were putting on the table, the guild revealed tonight just how truly far apart the two sides were up until the end of talks on the money and the future. “WGA proposals would gain writers approximately $429 million per year; AMPTP’s offer is approximately $86 million per year, 48% of which is from the minimums increase,” stated the guild.

On the topic of AI, the WGA wanted to “regulate use of artificial intelligence on MBA covered projects: AI can’t write or rewrite literary material; can’t be used as source material; and MBA-covered material can’t be used to train AI.” The response from the studios was a rejection of the WGA’s proposal, and then a counter offer of “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology.”

RELATED: What Went Wrong? Writers & Studios Reveal What They Couldn’t (And Could) Agree On As Strike Is Set

Along with the first major Tinseltown strike in 15 years, the WGA has scheduled an information session for members for May 3 at the more than 6,000 capacity Shrine Auditorium . Even before that, as picket signs go up tomorrow, late-night shows on both coasts will be shutting down , along with writers rooms and any big-screen or small-screen project that still is fine-tuning or grinding out scripts.

All over town agents and producers are moving with last minute haste to get deals sewn up before midnight so in some cases some scribes can get one last pay check, we hear.

The guild started making picket signs last week after issuing a long list of “strike rules,” which prohibit members from working on struck productions, and from selling and pitching scripts during the strike.

RELATED: Deadline’s Full Strike Coverage

Going into the talks, the guild had been seeking a major overhaul in compensation and residuals formulae, as well as curbs on mini-rooms, where groups of writers work in advance of the production of a television series to break stories and write scripts.

RELATED: WGA Strike Picket Line Locations List For Los Angeles & New York

Battered by low residuals, a lack of streaming data information, job insecurity and more, writers are bringing in less money overall despite a content boom in recent year of more shows and more platforms The low income most scribes are experiencing is something that neither side truly disputes, even if they have widely divergent approaches as of now on how to resolve the problem.

The guild also wants greater protections for its members’ over-scale payments, noting that with the rise of streaming, more writers at all levels are working at scale than ever before, including many showrunners.

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