NO ONE WANTS TO STRIKE
(but it’s the only option left)
Some talking points for when you’re talking to conservatives/neolibs about the writer’s strike
Profits for studios are higher than ever
Profit is the amount of revenue left over after all expenses have been paid.
In 2021, the Hollywood Reporter wrote that Netflix, Warner, Disney, Sony, NBCU and Paramount pulled in $60+ BILLION in revenue, and earned a massive profit of almost $10 BILLION, with Netflix profiting the most at $4.6B.
This still wasn’t enough profit, somehow, to satisfy the expectations of Wall Street gamblers. For writers who are paid minimum wage to write multi-million dollar franchise scripts, a tiny fraction of that profit would lift thousands of writers out of poverty.
Without writers, studios have nothing to sell
Writers are the backbone of Hollywood. There are no movies or TV shows if there is no one to write them. This is why many actors and directors are supporting the picket lines, because they know how valuable good writers are to their own careers.
Without writers, there would be no profit to be made, because no product would exist to generate revenue.
Strikes are incredibly painful
Workers who strike have no options left. Striking is a gruelling grind that puts vulnerable people into precarious financial and sometimes physical danger. Striking could also jeopardise colleagues in other unions (like IATSE) who could lose jobs.
Many of the members of the guild are striking because the work that they get, even on incredibly popular, well respected shows, does not pay enough to cover rent or healthcare. Many take 2nd jobs, or rely on government benefits, just to scrape by.
This strike is a last resort.
The requested WGA pay increases equal roughly 2% of profits
The proposals put forward by the Writers Guild of America would boost wages collectively by about $420M+ for over 11 000 writers, which is a fraction of the profit made by the major studios (Disney, Sony, Paramount, NBCU, Warner) and streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Apple), known as the AMPTP.
WGA captain Brittani Nichols explained recently to Democracy Now that while profits have increased for the AMPTP, wages for writers have fallen 23% (adjusted for inflation). This is because the residuals writers used to get whenever a show or film was rebroadcast have dried up.
When compared to cable networks, streaming services pay a fraction of the residuals for shows that are viewed by exponentially more people.
Streamers are refusing to release data on how popular their shows actually are, which makes fair negotiations impossible.
It’s not about the money, it’s about working conditions
Many of the WGA proposals would cost 0$ for the AMPTP to implement. But the AMPTP flat out rejected these proposals with no counter offers.
These proposals asked the AMPTP to offer transparent data about their viewership and to establish full writers rooms (which give writers a stable income), instead of mini rooms that turn writing into a low paid gig. They asked to establish a specific number of rewrites, to avoid the free labour of making hundreds of tweaks and changes.
These proposals were all rejected, with no counter offered.
It’s also about AI generated scripts
The WGA asked that studios regulate AI content, specifically asking that “AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, can’t be used as source material, and [WGA content] can’t be used to train AI”. The AMPTP offered an annual meeting with members to “discuss advancements in technology”.
Negotiating committee member Adam Conover told Jacobin Magazine: “We thought that one would be an easy layup for them, since AI is not currently usable in any shape or form and it’s not even clear that its output is copyrightable.” The AMPTP’s lead negotiator’s rumoured response to this request was to say “well… we might want to use [AI] in the future.”
AI is not magic. It uses existing works to spit out word salads, which then require labour to clean up. Studios anticipate these AI products will generate billions and billions of profit for them while refusing to offer even scraps to the workers, whose labour makes AI possible..
CEOs could pay for all the proposals out of their own salaries…
…and still have 50+ MILLION DOLLARS left over among them. By refusing to share the profits of these products with the people who make them, executives are profiting off of stolen labour.
The 2007 WGA strike ended up costing the studios over 2 billion dollars in losses. It lasted for 100 days, and previous strikes have gone on longer. Even though strikes do not make financial sense for corporations, it is the only language they understand.
This is about survival
Many other Hollywood unions will be negotiating their contracts in the coming months, including the Directors Guild and the Screen Actors Guild, followed by IATSE next year. All of these unions (plus the Teamsters) are throwing their support behind the WGA strike because they recognize how crucial everyone’s labour is.
Every show and film starts with a script, and a script can only exist with human labour. Writers are entitled to the profits their work generates.
Here’s how to support the strike
So far, the WGA has not called for a boycott. But say, if you wanted to cancel your subscriptions for a few months until the next quarter, that’s a totally rational decision you could make.
You could also go to entertainmentcommunity.org, click “donate” and then select “Film & Television’’ as your Gift destination. That’s a great way to support industry workers who are affected by the strikes.
Teamsters have promised not to cross picket lines with their supply trucks, and you only need 2 people to create a line. So if you live in a town where a Hollywood production is on going, maybe join a picket line.
BC — May 2023
SOURCES
Democracy Now interview with Brittani Nichols
Jacobin: TV and Film Writers Are Getting Ready for a Strike
The Hollywood Reporter: Studio Profit Report
