Hollywood writers go on strike, saying they face 'existential crisis'

By Mike Murphy

Work to be halted on TV shows, movies; picketing will start Tuesday

Hollywood writers are on strike for the first time in 15 years, halting production of TV shows and movies.

The Writers Guild of America announced Monday night its boards unanimously approved a strike effective 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. "Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon," the WGA said in a tweet Monday night.

The WGA said the decision was made after six weeks of fruitless negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Disney (DIS), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Comcast's (CMCSA) NBCUniversal, Paramount (PARA) and Sony (6758.TO).

"Though our negotiating committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing," the WGA said.

"The survival of our profession is at stake," the WGA said last month.

Among other things, the roughly 11,500 TV and film writers are seeking pay raises and more job guarantees, saying Hollywood's shift to streaming has created a more uncertain, gig-like economy that has upended working conditions.

"The companies' behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing," the WGA said in a statement Monday. "From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a 'day rate' in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership."

Studios say they are trying to contain costs as decades-old network and cable TV business models no longer work as more people switch to streaming. The AMPTP said Monday it offered "generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals."

The effects of the strike will first be seen on talk shows, and likely will derail "Saturday Night Live," which was scheduled to air its next new episode Saturday. The impact on scripted shows and movies will take longer to have an effect, but could cause new releases to be delayed if the strike lasts long.

The last writers strike, in 2007-'08, lasted three months.

-Mike Murphy

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05-02-23 0713ET

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