The Writers Guild of America is formally occurring strike after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down regardless of months of negotiation.
“We have not reached an agreement with the studios and streamers,” the guild stated in an announcement launched on Monday evening. “We will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight.”
The WGA’s present settlement with the AMPTP, which represents the 9 largest studios in Hollywood, expired on May 1. Discussion relating to a brand new three-year contract started on March 20.
At the middle of the negotiation: An acknowledgment of, and correcting for, the best way that streaming has affected the work, compensation and dealing situations of writers. “Over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions,” the Writers Guild of America West wrote in a latest tweet. “We are asking to restore writer pay & conditions to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.”
According to the WGA, extra writers work on the present settlement’s minimal pay degree now than a decade in the past. Between 2013 and 2014, solely 33 p.c of all TV sequence writers have been paid the minimal. But within the practically 10 years since, that quantity has jumped to 50 p.c. Lower weekly pay of the writers and producers represented was additionally cited as being down 4 p.c all through the final decade. When accounting for inflation, that decline rises to 23 p.c.
In anticipation of a doable strike, some exhibits (together with NBC’s Quantum Leap and La Brea) rolled manufacturing on the present season proper into the subsequent, in order to financial institution episodes to offset any lull in output.
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