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While the WGA’s pickets have been removed, the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, as negotiations seem to have reached a stall. This could lead to even further repercussions over the upcoming projects of streaming services, TV programmes and films.
In July 2023, after the expiration of their contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) officially announced a strike.
For the first time in six decades SAG-AFTRA and WGA, the Writers Guild of America, jointly protested against the companies represented by AMPTP.
The last WGA strike took place in 2007-2008, it lasted a hundred days and cost $2.1 billion to California’s economy alone. This meant a delay in TV shows and movies since production had to slow down or stop; moreover, technicians in the entertainment business had to find other work, in order not to remain jobless.
The AMPTP was forced to negotiate and a new minimum basic agreement was reached with terms lasting for three years. Renegotiations were supposed to occur on a three-year basis.
The 2023 WGA strike started because studios and production companies, in order to keep costs down and make more profits, have allotted less and less budget towards writers’ wages. Therefore, even if streaming services have created more jobs, at least until recently, and have increased the allocation of funds towards production, those who seem to pay the ultimate price are screenwriters.
According to a bulletin of the WGA, the average writer-producer pay has declined 23 % over the last decade, if adjusted for inflation, and that is simply not sustainable due to the soaring cost of living, especially in Hollywood, where most of these jobs tend to be.
One important aspect that the union wanted to renegotiate was residuals, the payment that screenwriters get when a project they have a credit on is aired by a cable network which has bought the rights. With the rise of streaming services, this issue has become of great importance, as companies such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, only buy the rights to a TV series or movie once and, since there is no such thing as the re-running of a previously created show, screenwriters are paid significantly less than in broadcast TV.
By nucleoset via Pixabay
Another sticking point for WGA was a practice born about a decade ago, but that has exploded in the past few years due to streaming services. The so-called “mini rooms” consist in writer’s rooms with fewer writers than usual, the wage is significantly less and screenwriters may even not be part of the whole duration of the production, as they are usually hired to create only a few episodes of a show before it is officially picked up. Moreover, the jobs of writing and production, often combined, are separate in this case, meaning that this model renders writers disposable and prevents them from progressing into higher-paid jobs.
On Sunday, September 24, WGA announced that an agreement with AMPTP was reached; on October 9, the union’s membership officially ratified the new contract.
Unfortunately, the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, since no agreement has been reached. The union requests an 11% general increase in wages to keep up with inflation, protection of the images and performances to prevent performers’ replacement by artificial intelligence and informed consent and fair compensation when such a situation occurs. SAG-AFTRA asks for a comprehensive plan for actors to participate in streaming revenue, as the residuals model has significantly changed after the rise in popularity of streaming services. Moreover, the agreement should include support from the employers, by raising contribution caps, to keep performers’ health and retirement funds sustainable.
After more than four weeks of bargaining, the AMPTP agreed solely to what SAG-AFTRA considers the basic issues, therefore the proposal was refused. According to the union representing companies such as Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros, doing so equals choosing “a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry”.
In October both unions were supposed to meet up and continue negotiations for a new contract with the heads of four major studios; however, the evening before this event was supposed to take place, the Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, surprisingly received a call informing him that the talks were suspended, as the AMPTP is of the opinion that “conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction”.
What this means for your favorite TV shows is that you will probably have to wait even more to binge new seasons, even if nowadays we are accustomed to great time gaps. Due to the stockpile scripts, the effects will be less obvious than in 2007-2008; nonetheless, if the strike carried out by actors does not end shortly, the repercussions will most likely be to a greater extent worse.
You will probably see more international shows in the next months, as streaming platforms are increasingly importing more shows from different countries where strikes are not occurring. Furthermore, viewership will continue to shift towards non-scripted programming.
In the long-term, however, there will be a huge gap in the creation of new content and that could lead to an increase in subscription fees, as streaming services will have to buy existing material competitive to acquire.
We still do not know how the situation will evolve; and while you will still be able to enjoy the huge piles of shows already present, the cost of the combined strike of SAG-AFTRA and WGA could exceed $3 billion, having great repercussions not only on Hollywood, but also on the economy as a whole.
References
Feldman, D. (2023). The Hollywood Strike Could Exceed $3 Billion In Economic Fallout. Here’s Why. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danafeldman/2023/07/13/how-the-actors-and-writers-strike-will-impact-consumers/
James, M., & Sakoui, A. (2023, July 14). How did talks break down between SAG-AFTRA and the studios - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-07-13/sag-actors-strike-what-happened-writers-strike-fran-drescher
Lee, W. (2023, September 16). Why WGA, SAG-AFTRA seek data transparency from Netflix, streamers - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-09-14/wga-writers-strike-sag-aftra-actors-strike-netflix-ratings-data-transparency
Maddaus, G. (2023, October 12). Variety. Variety. https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sag-aftra-talks-collapse-streaming-residual-1235753971/
McCluskey, M. (2023, July 14). What happened the last time SAG and the WGA went on strike together. Time. https://time.com/6294777/sag-wga-strike-1960/
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and studios are suspended. (2023, October 12). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/negotiations-sag-aftra-studios-are-suspended-rcna120040
Sanchez, C. (2023, September 25). Everything to know about the SAG strike that shut down Hollywood. Harper’s BAZAAR. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a44506329/sag-aftra-actors-strike-hollywood-explained/
Wilkinson, A. (2023, July 13). Hollywood's writers are on strike. Here's what matters. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/23696617/writers-strike-wga-2023-explained-residuals-streaming-ai
Wilkinson, A., & Stewart, E. (2023, September 28). The Hollywood writers’ strike is over — and they won big. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/9/24/23888673/wga-strike-end-sag-aftra-contract
Why we strike | SAG-AFTRA Strike. (n.d.). SAG-AFTRA Strike. https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/why-we-strike
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