Hollywood writers are celebrating a month of strike

The Hollywood Writers Guild (WGA) has been on strike for a month without a date for negotiations to resume. A strike that, if continued, could affect 600 productions and cause economic losses greater than those caused by the 2007 strike, which reached $2,000 million.

“Manufacturers’ Association Film and television (AMPTP) hasn’t come back to the table and they’re still unwilling to offer any kind of proposal for our most serious issues,” screenwriter Haley Harris, responsible for titles like “Sweeth Tooth” (2021) and “The Leftovers,” said for EFE.” (2014).

dialogue between WGA and AMPTP for the renewal of the sectoral agreement ended May 1 without agreement, which led more than 10,000 associated screenwriters to begin a strike on the 2nd of that month, which from the outset warned of a gradual shutdown of film and television production.

Consequences in industry they were immediate, and weekly TV shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” or “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” stopped creating new chapters.

A short time later, series such as “Stranger Things”, “The Last of Us” and “Andor” They announced that they will stop their production. So far, more than 50 projects have been affected by the strike, and if it continues, AMPTP estimates the number could rise to 600.

The intention of the writers is hinder the advance of the greatest number possible productions to “empty the content pipeline”, and to achieve this, they changed their strategies by organizing mass protests outside the filming in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

Furthermore, unlike the last strike which lasted 100 days, In this, screenwriters have the support of other unions such as directors (DGA), actors (SAG-AFTRA), and even truck drivers, which put more pressure on the companies.

“The day after the announcement strike all WGA members were invited to a a meeting attended by the leaders of all trade unions from Hollywood: Everyone!. It was impressive to feel their support and the determination of their colleagues to let common sense prevail in these negotiations,” said Spanish screenwriter Julia Fontana.

This solidarity union made a strategy PTAMP it is based on “divide and rule” according to Fontana, author of series such as “Lucifer” (2016) or “The InBetween” (2019).

The screenwriter believes that the strike the screenwriters will go their own wayAt least until the union finalizes the agreements with the other two groups, that of the directors – with whom we are now talking – and the actors, because it refuses to negotiate with more than one union at a time.

Validity of the actors’ agreement i directors ends next June 30.

The conflict could worsen for companies that neither They manage to come to an agreement with these organizations, since the actors’ union has already called on its members to vote for approval to declare a strike.

“If the actors get involved strike, studies He will find himself in a very complicated situation,” said Fontana.

Upon request from EFE, AMPTP He revisited his May 4 statement detailing his proposals to the WGA, making it clear that so far there has been no progress in negotiations.

they will not give up

This strike has no economic consequences only for production companiesalso for the screenwriters themselves, who risk losing job opportunities and exhausting their savings.

Fontana explained that, “paradoxically”, their precarious work system prepared them for a long break, since the profession was used to spending long periods without work.

In addition, union members have been raising funds to help people in the industry financially affected by the strike, and the WGA has a $20 million fund to help writers in need of financial assistance.

More visible consequences

Haley explained that it is likely that this year publicly see only reflected consequences of the strike on the television front, although he predicts that the awards season in Hollywood will be diminished by the absence of support from writers in their promotional campaigns or their presence in deliveries.

So far, the daytime Emmys have already pushed back their date due to conflicts and lower-impact awards such as MTV TV & Movie Awards, they were forced to cancel the face-to-face ceremony due to the threat of protests and some presenters walking out in support of the screenwriters.

But some consequences have already arrived franchise film productions with box office records like the “Spider-Man” saga starring Tom Holland.

The actor recently announced that meetings for the fourth film have been suspended indefinitely “out of solidarity” with the screenwriters.

The writers promise that they will not give in to the most urgent demands in which PTAMP refused to negotiate.

This includes guaranteeing minimum dimensions for “mini rooms”, rooms where scripts are written for series that have not yet been approved; that proportional payments for creators are regulated each time they return to broadcast your work and to regulate the use of artificial intelligence.