The strike of Hollywood screenwriters, which is currently paralyzing the production of films and series in the United States, reached the symbolic threshold of 100 days on Wednesday, the feathers of the industry attributing this symbolic level “shameful” to the studios.

After more than three months on strike, the gap between the powerful screenwriters’ union (WGA) and the bosses of studios and streaming platforms still seems wide open.

No agreement has been reached to better remunerate script writers with profits from streaming, or to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the industry.

Since the beginning of this social movement, the two parties have hardly spoken to each other. And in mid-July, the crisis worsened with the entry into strike of the actors, who carry similar demands.

Almost completely at a standstill, Hollywood had not experienced such a double social movement since 1960.

“The refusal to seriously consider the screenwriters’ reasonable proposals has made the WGA strike last for 100 days, and it’s not over,” the union told AFP on Wednesday, denouncing this duration as a “shameful threshold ” for studios.

The studios “are fully responsible for shutting down the industry,” the union added in a statement, saying meeting the strikers’ demands would cost “far less than the damage caused by their intransigence.”

The last writers’ strike, in 2007-08, lasted 100 days and cost the California economy $2.1 billion, according to an estimate by the Milken Institute.

But this time, no way out is in sight.

After three months of radio silence, screenwriters and studios resumed the dialogue on Friday, during a meeting which was to make it possible to consider a reopening of negotiations. But this meeting came to nothing.

A few hours before the meeting, the WGA doubted the good faith of the studios in a message addressed to its members. The employers reacted by denouncing an “unfortunate” rhetoric.

“This strike has harmed thousands of people in this industry and we take it very seriously. Our only objective is to put people back to work”, assured the studios, grouped under the aegis of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

For Charlie Kesslering, present Wednesday on a picket line outside the Netflix offices in Los Angeles, the writers’ struggle is an “existential fight” and “it will take much more than 100 days for the motivation to disappear”.

“It’s about ensuring that the careers we love so much remain careers and remain a viable way to earn a living,” the screenwriter added.

A determination also proclaimed with insistence by the WGA. “The studios have no choice but to reach a fair agreement,” hammered the union in its press release. “In the meantime, we remain resolute and united.”

Scriptwriters and actors camp on their positions because they are scalded by the advent of streaming. Over the past decade, this new model has revolutionized their “residual” remuneration, which arises from each rerun of a film or series and allows them to live between two projects.

Interesting with television because calculated according to the price of advertisements, these emoluments are much lower with streaming platforms, which do not communicate their audience figures and pay a flat rate, regardless of success.

The emerging use of artificial intelligence, capable of writing scripts or cloning the voice and image of actors, only adds fuel to the fire.

The conflict may be treading water, but the approach seems to be evolving towards a slightly less incisive posture on the employers’ side. After criticizing the strikers’ “unrealistic” demands in mid-July, Disney boss Bob Iger adopted a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday.

When releasing the group’s results, which coincided with the 100th day of the strike, he said he was “personally involved” in finding a way out of the crisis, expressing “his deep respect” for the creative people in his company and the industry. ‘industry.

10/08/2023 03:42:24 – Los Angeles (AFP) – © 2023 AFP