The Writers Guild of America (WGA) last night authorized a strike. It has been negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) for better compensation and equity structures and, in mid-April, held a strike authorization vote that saw record numbers of unit members (97.85%) voting yes. The strike went into effect at 12:01 am Pacific Time on Tuesday, May 2 after negotiations failed.
The WGA represents nearly 12,000 writers working in show business; they write television, films, and other literary works, like scripted podcasts and streaming shows. In mid-April, SAG-AFTRA—the Screen Actors Guild—issued a statement of support for the WGA.
The WGA has focused on a “pattern of demands” to address these inequalities and difficulties. A pattern of demand is a set of demands that the union representatives will push for during negotiations, which have been voted on by the larger organization unit. According to the WGA site, these demands include increasing minimum compensation, expanding protections to cover all television writers, and increasing residuals for “under-compensated reuse markets.”
More generally, the WGA is asking for better professional standards and protections for writers who are employed within the industry. These include regulations for AI and dataset-trained technology, stronger regulation of options and exclusivity clauses in contracts for TV writers, and enacting measures to combat discrimination and harassment.
Ultimately the demands are an existential ask for writers—this strike stands in between writing for a living and writing turning into a gig economy. The ask from the writers would increase guild compensation by $500 million—a far lower sum than the billions that studios and streamers make every year.
Source
The WGA represents nearly 12,000 writers working in show business; they write television, films, and other literary works, like scripted podcasts and streaming shows. In mid-April, SAG-AFTRA—the Screen Actors Guild—issued a statement of support for the WGA.
The WGA has focused on a “pattern of demands” to address these inequalities and difficulties. A pattern of demand is a set of demands that the union representatives will push for during negotiations, which have been voted on by the larger organization unit. According to the WGA site, these demands include increasing minimum compensation, expanding protections to cover all television writers, and increasing residuals for “under-compensated reuse markets.”
More generally, the WGA is asking for better professional standards and protections for writers who are employed within the industry. These include regulations for AI and dataset-trained technology, stronger regulation of options and exclusivity clauses in contracts for TV writers, and enacting measures to combat discrimination and harassment.
Ultimately the demands are an existential ask for writers—this strike stands in between writing for a living and writing turning into a gig economy. The ask from the writers would increase guild compensation by $500 million—a far lower sum than the billions that studios and streamers make every year.
Source
