On social networks, some now display a red sign instead of their profile picture. “Writers Guild on strike,” the footage reads, for “Writers Guild of America West screenwriters on strike.” On Tuesday, May 2, more than 11,000 screenwriters from Hollywood’s main union quit work to demand better pay. Their mobilization does not yet have an end date.
Every three years, the profession renegotiates its contracts with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP). If the producers were able to narrowly avoid the strike in 2017, the six weeks of discussions ended in failure this year. Faced with the main platforms and channels such as Netflix, Amazon or NBC, the screenwriters’ union hoped to obtain better remuneration to cope with inflation, and a greater share of profit on streaming. In vain.
The decision was made following six weeks of negotiating with @Netflix, @Amazon, @Apple, @Disney, @wbd, @NBCUniversal, @Paramountplus and @Sony under the umbrella of the AMPTP.
The immediate consequence is the interruption of “Late night shows”, these successful programs combining interviews and humorous touches. For example, Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show on NBC or Jimmy Kimmel Live! from ABC will not be airing for the next few days. The effects of this stop seem more difficult to assess for the series, the scripts being written very early. All the American series that will be renewed next fall are likely to suffer the brunt of this mobilization, according to Business Insider, which cites among the first “victims”: NCIS, Elementary (two series broadcast in France on M6) or even the science fiction series La Brea (TF1). In this logic, other titles could also be affected by this social movement such as Grey’s Anatomy (programmed on TF1) and its spin-off Station 19 and even the indestructible Simpsons.
Online, streaming platforms will a priori not suffer the repercussions of this strike, according to the New York Times. HBO and Netflix, for example, work several months ahead and have a sufficiently large catalog to absorb a possible lack of production.
If the strike bogs down, could the seasons be cut short? This is what happened during the previous mobilization between 2007 and 2008. At the time, Desperate Housewives, Lost or Breaking Bad had to reduce the current season by several episodes. The showdown between writers and broadcasters lasted 101 days. A long walkout that had cost Hollywood $ 2.1 billion.
In France, the broadcast of series generally registers several months of delay. In addition to abbreviated seasons, the consequences of this strike will not a priori be visible on the small screen.
According to the Writers Guild of America West, almost 50% screenwriters earn only the minimum income and fewer and fewer people are hired to write series. The intrigues, which are getting shorter, would not allow either to generate as substantial an income as before. For example, the series Dr House has eight seasons of about twenty episodes, against four seasons of eight or nine episodes for Stranger Things.
In addition to these degraded working conditions and wages eaten away by inflation, the union also denounces an unequal redistribution of profits. All screenwriters only get a set amount for streaming. This premium remains unchanged despite the worldwide success of certain creations, such as Bridgerton or Wednesday on Netflix, which have accumulated several hundred million views.
