Hollywood could soon see a repeat of the Writers Guild of America strike from almost 15 years ago. If this goes down, the film and TV industry could see further disruptions, not long after movie theaters finally began to recover from the pandemic.
Negotiations have been ongoing between the union and studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, for a month already.
This week, Writers Guild of America members overwhelmingly authorized a strike, which could begin soon after their current contract expiration date of May 1.
At issue: increased compensation and benefits, both of which are complicated by the industry’s increasing shift to streaming content, which gets produced through a vastly different business model from the TV network-residual years of yesteryear. This further translates into fewer theatrical movie releases and a barely existent DVD market, while the binge-friendly streaming atmosphere – with less support from advertisers than network TV – has led services to reevaluate compensation structures.
Hollywood, having learned lessons from the last strike, has attempted to prepare accordingly by stockpiling scripts, renewing fan-favorite shows earlier than usual, and planning to air a higher volume of unscripted content including more game shows and reality competition series. In other words, get ready to see a lot of The Masked Singer and Survivor while flipping through channels.
Some good news: Saturday Night Live’s post-production workers recently nixed strike plans after the Editors Guild reached a deal with NBC to substantially boost pay and increase healthcare benefits along with other perks associated with working long hours.
