If you were as woefully uneducated about this a short while ago as I was, let me clue you in about the strike itself. These are Hollywood writers, represented by the Writers Guild Of America (WGA), striking for fair compensation for their work, especially for streaming content.
On the other side of the barricade, we have the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who represent various media companies and have flat-out denied most of WGA’s requests.
The strike was started only after negotiations failed, with some really pitiful counter-offers, so the WGA Union members voted to strike.
What this means is that WGA members cannot write for AMPTP companies during the strike, as a show of solidarity in an attempt to deprive the companies of content until they run out of entertainment to provide and are therefore forced to renegotiate terms with the guild.
And when we say that the writers want “fair compensation”, we really do mean it. For example, Valentina Garza, writer for many popular shows, from The Simpsons to Wednesday, shares a streaming residual check for two episodes of Jane the Virgin.
Apparently she got $0.01 for one episode and $0.02 for another, which the streamers rerun constantly.
Furthermore, according to Associated Press, when accounting for inflation, writer-producer pay has decreased about 23%, with 14% of the decline happening during the last 5 years.
Besides pay, writers want better residuals, with writers like Valentina pointing out the pathetic numbers she receives. And just in case you’re wondering, residuals are similar to royalties, but while royalties are paid out by your contractor, residuals are collectively negotiated by unions.
According to Quora answers, royalties also stay the same, while residuals reduce from 100% to 10%, for example.
As for increases in pay, WGA is striving to establish a new minimum for writer-producers. Variety explains that currently the minimum for everyone above staff writer is $7,412 per week.
The guild seeks that everyone at the level of co-producer, producer, and above get a minimum pay 25% higher than the story editor tier.
The AMPTP was willing to create a new tier, but with a minimum of 2-7% above the story editor level.
The WGA strike is gaining momentum, with many other unions joining in to support them, including the Producers Guild Of America, NYC musicians union, the Australian Writers’ Guild, the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, and the Writers Guild Of Canada joining in, if the AMPTP attempts to look for writing talent abroad.
The strike has started on May 2 and shows no signs of stopping until the WGA’s demands are met.
