Writers Guild of America -- on strike

May 2, 2023 7:25 AM

News of the strike, which takes effect in a few hours, came late Monday after the guild’s negotiations with the AMPTP failed to reach an agreement on a new film and scripted TV contract. It’s the WGA’s first strike since the 100-day walkout of 2007-08.
posted by seanmpuckett (86 comments total)

I am not sure how best to support the picket except refusing to watch non-scripted shows.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:26 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Much of my preferred watching is Kimmel, Colbert, and Meyers, so I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing for the next while. I hope they give the writers what they need to thrive. Hollywood has changed a lot in the past 15 years, and aside from structural changes, the bigwigs have figured out ways to get around guild salaries. So there's a lot that needs to be fixed.
posted by hippybear at 7:30 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

The season of Friday Night Lights written by scab writers is a striking example of why good writers are worth every penny. Landry killed someone with a wrench! LANDRY. And then when the writers came back they just ignored it had ever happened. Which, in a better world, where writers get paid what the market should pay them, it hadn't.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:47 AM on May 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

Last time this happened we got reality TV. I wonder if this time around we'll get AI written shows?
posted by Iteki at 7:52 AM on May 2, 2023 [32 favorites]

Who needs scabs when you have LLMs?

"Did you hear about the writers strike? It's so bad, Hollywood's running out of recycled ideas. They're having to resort to original content. God help us all." - chatGPT in Jimmy Kimmel style on the writers strike
posted by grokus at 7:53 AM on May 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

I wonder if this time around we'll get AI written shows?

Welp, that's a big part/contention of this strike, much of this is related to writer's demands regarding use of AI scripting/writing and streaming service residuals/profit-sharing related to streaming (which has blown up over the last 10+ years).

I'm sure some greedy executive is currently rubbing their palms thinking that they're going to re-invent writing and screenplays via AI. Fuck that.

Solidarity with the writers.
posted by Fizz at 7:56 AM on May 2, 2023 [14 favorites]

I'm terrified we're going to get AI shows anyway, but especially now. I'm really rooting for the writers.

What Went Wrong? Writers & Studios Reveal What They Couldn’t (And Could) Agree On As Strike Is Set
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:03 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

I imagined that one of the key demands of the Writers Guild was explicitly regarding the existence of Large Language Model tools. For example, writers must be compensated if their works are used as a part of LLM training. Likewise, any usage of LLM tools should be considered/regarded.

Now is the best time to leverage whatever power they have.
posted by neuracnu at 8:18 AM on May 2, 2023 [9 favorites]

“I love writing. I love writing for TV. I love writing this show. I love that we get to come in with an idea for what we want to do every day and we get to work on it all afternoon and then I have the pleasure of coming out here. No one is entitled to a job in show business. But for those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation. They are entitled to make a living. I think it’s a very reasonable demand that’s being set out by the guild. And I support those demands.” - Seth Meyers, from jenfullmoon's link.

I watched his latest Corrections video where he said something similar. It is always great to see the talent remembering their roots.
posted by gwydapllew at 8:24 AM on May 2, 2023 [28 favorites]

It’s a bit of a mixed blessing that the streaming boom left behind hundreds of hours of relatively high-quality scripted TV, all of which is still readily available to subscribers to the various services that produced it. Many viewers could happily spend quite a few months catching up on shows we missed before really feeling a lack of new content. In that regard, I guess to fully support the strike one should suspend all one’s subscriptions?
posted by staggernation at 8:24 AM on May 2, 2023

I don't think cancelling subscriptions is the only answer. If viewership of non-scripted shows drops off and that of (even old) scripted rises, that sends a clear signal. Many of the scripted shows likely have to pay residuals, anyway, so watching them is another penny in the pocket for the strikers.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:28 AM on May 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

It is always great to see the talent remembering their roots.

It's not his roots. Seth is a paid writer for the show, much like Stewart was for The Daily Show when the strike happened in 2008. I don't know if Kimmel writes for his show, but I know Colbert is also a part of the writers' guild employed to write on his show.
posted by hippybear at 8:37 AM on May 2, 2023

Many of the scripted shows likely have to pay residuals, anyway, so watching them is another penny in the pocket for the strikers.

If it's even a penny. Streaming residuals are one of the points of contention in the negotiations.
posted by hippybear at 8:38 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

The season of Friday Night Lights written by scab writers is a striking example of why good writers are worth every penny. Landry killed someone with a wrench! LANDRY. And then when the writers came back they just ignored it had ever happened.

The timeline doesn't line up with what you're saying. The 2007 WGA strike began in November 2007, and Season 2 of FNL had already started airing. All of the episodes -- at the very least the first half of the season -- would have already been written by the WGA staff writers. The culprit isn't any scab writers, it's that NBC unexpectedly found themselves with a critical darling show and wanted to goose the ratings with stunts and melodrama (Me and my friends made "Street Shark" jokes for weeks after the plotline about Jason getting shark stemcells injected). See, for example, this article from The Guardian which makes no mention of scab writers.

The strike ended with enough time for Season 3 to resume on schedule, but since it would now air on DirectTV the producers could be more chill, and introduce East Dillon's new characters. Season 2 had been shortened by the strike, and the remaining seasons would stay at 13 eps each because of the reduced production budget.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:39 AM on May 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

The strike doesn’t affect just writers—the WGA-E has contracts with several production outfits that include these jobs: AP/Research, Associate Producer, AP Specialist, Archival Producer, Art Director, Junior Archival, Post AP, Post Coordinator, Post Production Assistant, Production Assistant, Producer, Show Runner, Sr. Producer/Writer, Supervising Producer, GFX Designer, GFX Tech, GFX Artist, Motion GFX Editor, Jr. Graphic Freelance Designer, Motion Graphics, Story Producer.
How is a GFX artist the same as a writer?
(Powerlevel—am DGA, WGA member.)
posted by Ideefixe at 8:39 AM on May 2, 2023 [9 favorites]

Daniel Craig on Quantum of Solace: "On ‘Quantum,’ we were fucked,” he said plainly. “We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike ... There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not.’”
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:44 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Stephen Colbert: Future News Jokes Now... Just In Case [4m44s]
posted by hippybear at 8:50 AM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

More difficult than figuring out how to support the writers is figuring out how to make the studios feel the pain of the strike in a reasonable time frame to help the writers. Unlike the rail strike (which should have happened), there's no immediate impact on the economy, so the studios and networks can play reruns or recycle failed projects or whatever and a certain segment of the paying audience will still tune-in and most importantly, ad revenue will likely continue.
How do we get advertisers to support the strike?
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:08 AM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Let me remind everyone that reality TV came along before the strike. Go back and look at when the big reality show debuted: the majority of them came before the strike was even discussed.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 9:18 AM on May 2, 2023 [10 favorites]

Would watching older shows help the striking workers get residuals? (An excuse to catch up on things lingering in my Netflix queue)
posted by SaharaRose at 9:33 AM on May 2, 2023

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.
posted by praemunire at 9:33 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Last time this happened we got reality TV.

This is not true.
posted by rhymedirective at 9:36 AM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Effect of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike on television. Friday Night Lights is in the 'shortened season' category, with 15 of 22 of that season's episodes completed before strike.

"Some shows, especially unscripted or reality shows [Big Brother, The Amazing Race], benefitted from the strike by providing the networks with new material."

"Although many animated series employ union writers, there is no requirement to do so. For instance, the writers of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, were not union members, and the show remained in production during the strike [...] some game shows, such as Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and The Price Is Right, were not affected because they are unscripted, other than the questions and the prize descriptions (and in Price's case, Showcase skits); by contrast, Sony Pictures' Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, and Disney's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had their quiz questions researched and written by WGA writers under deals with their producers."

"While the strike had no effect on sporting events (which are unscripted), the strike also did not affect scripted professional wrestling, as both World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling had in-house ununionized writers."
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:47 AM on May 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Conan spins his wedding ring to kill time during the last one.
posted by praemunire at 9:53 AM on May 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

From the 1988 WGA strike, it's Late Night with David Letterman's Hal Gurnee's Network Time Killers. Features classic Letterman kvetching about NBC pinheads. "You're giving me time cues? Our biggest goal here tonight is to kill time."
posted by Servo5678 at 10:02 AM on May 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Also, let's remember the large number of non-WGA industry employees who will be laid off today, or next week or next month. Shows that are fully written and that are in production now will eventually wrap. Support businesses like the prop houses, the dry cleaners, the caterers, and so many more -- they either slow down or close. This brings a lot of pain to a lot of people. I'm in the midst of writing a financial aid appeal letter to my kid's college.

Just getting that off my chest because overall, of course -- OF COURSE -- I stand with the writers. I stand with union workers everywhere. I stand with labor, and my only additional takeaway is that workers everywhere should be unionized.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:47 AM on May 2, 2023 [9 favorites]

I am not sure how best to support the picket except refusing to watch non-scripted shows.

Strike assistance links at the WGA strike hub.
posted by aniola at 11:01 AM on May 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

This is a strike. Watch nothing. Falling back on streaming services for scripted shows is just rewarding the abusers for their abusive tactics. They get their money.
posted by Wetterschneider at 11:21 AM on May 2, 2023

Can I still watch Anime and feel ok about it?
posted by keep_evolving at 11:26 AM on May 2, 2023

From a WaPo article: "This year’s strike authorization vote had the highest approval rate and turnout of any in the WGA’s history."

ETA: I think I'll catch up on public radio podcasts or something.
posted by Emmy Rae at 11:33 AM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is a strike. Watch nothing. Falling back on streaming services for scripted shows is just rewarding the abusers for their abusive tactics. They get their money.

They don't care if you watch or not, it's the subscription. If you are serious, stop your subscription.
posted by Pendragon at 11:40 AM on May 2, 2023

Does the WGA want people to cancel their streaming subscriptions?
posted by rhymedirective at 11:49 AM on May 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

Whew as someone who works in production, the last few years have been a wild ride to say the least. I fully support what they're doing - I was rooting for IATSE to strike as well last year and was sincerely disappointed when they didn't - but god damn, gonna need some dramamine if I stay on this roller coaster any longer. Feels like the universe is telling me to go get a real job.
posted by bradbane at 12:04 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

The strike authorization %age was 97.85. Which is pretty f'n high.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:20 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Here’s a good point-by-point summary of what the WGA wants and what the AMPTP is (not) offering. Though I don’t fully understand the background on e.g. the writers’ room stuff - do these kinds of staffing requirements already exist in some form, or is the guild trying to formalize something that was more just “the way it was done” now that studios think they can do it cheaper/squeeze more out of fewer writers?
posted by atoxyl at 12:46 PM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Though I don’t fully understand the background on e.g. the writers’ room stuff - do these kinds of staffing requirements already exist in some form, or is the guild trying to formalize something that was more just “the way it was done” now that studios think they can do it cheaper/squeeze more out of fewer writers?

It's a combination of a lot of things. Part of it is go back to how it was done, part of it is the studios have started using "mini rooms" to churn out an outline for a modern shorter season of a show, usually in like a week, and then cut those people loose and they won't even be involved if they show gets greenlit. There's other things going on in there, too.

This 25 minute conversation with Adam Conover, one of the writers directly negotiating for the union, is full of great details.
posted by hippybear at 12:59 PM on May 2, 2023 [9 favorites]

Does the WGA want people to cancel their streaming subscriptions?

I don't see that request on the Strike Hub aniola linked above. The assistance/support sections are all links to strike funds and requests for organizations to sign on for support. I'd assume a request like that would show up there - not sure where to look for it, otherwise?
posted by EvaDestruction at 1:54 PM on May 2, 2023

I first really appreciated what writers do about 25 years ago ,when I read Bob Zmuda's bio of his partner, Andy Kaufman, published when that Man on the Moon movie came out.

The funniest scene is near the beginning, before Bob even meets Andy. He's driving around New Jersey while working with an unnamed script doctor, putting innocent people in unexpected situations to get more realistic dialog and punch up the scripts. (His work ended up in movies like Serpico, Mean Streets, and Dog Day Afternoon, if I remember correctly.) I'm not going to spoil it -- it's worth getting the book from your local library, assuming it's still open and they haven't had to toss it. And you only have to read the first chapter, and forego the bits on the Latka and the lady wrestling.

Of course you could say that we haven't had a decade of gritty, realistic dramas like those films since the 70s, and maybe aren't missing much by trying to automate the creative process as much as possible.
posted by morspin at 2:01 PM on May 2, 2023

Members of the WGA who work in broadcast TV, radio, streaming news, online media, nonfiction podcasts, nonfiction TV, and public TV aren’t on strike.
Craft services workers (not “ caterers”) are IATSE, and they can choose not to cross the picket lines. Same with costumers (who handle dry cleaning, tailoring, etc..) Prop houses, florists/greenspeople, etc. might resort to their austerity plans, as they’re private companies and usually not unionized.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:07 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Members of the WGA who work in broadcast TV… aren’t on strike.

Can you be more specific about what you mean by “broadcast TV”? Because, just for example, Saturday Night Live has already canceled this week’s episode.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 3:18 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm sure Pete Davidson will be relieved.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:21 PM on May 2, 2023

The Hollywood Reporter has a good interview with 3 union negotiators that gives their take on how things broke down: the entertainment conglomerates simply refused to discuss any of the most important issues writers brought to the table:

Keyser: We did make some progress on a lot of things, but in most areas of negotiations, they fell far short of the kind of guarantees that would really take care of writers going forward...they came back and said to us, “Listen, we can do a lot better on that if you drop every one of your proposals that guarantees that writers will actually have a future in the business.” That’s not the way negotiating works. [...]

Keyser: They’re offering us a package that’s more or less the same value [of] what they gave us three or six years ago. So it doesn’t even come close to keeping up with inflation, let alone taking care of the fact that writers have steadily seen their wages decline even in all those years when the companies were doing incredibly well...

Stutzman: We could not have been more clear that this is not a normal negotiation cycle. Our members are feeling like they’re [facing] an existential threat to their very existence as writers. And it fell on deaf ears. We said it over and over again. And what they came back with was the standard stuff and seemed very almost casual. It was like they didn’t hear us. And here we are. [...]

Goodman: ...We had many, many, many proposals on the table at the beginning that we traded away in an attempt to move this negotiation forward...But we had core issues that we needed to address. And on those, we wanted to have a conversation. Like our opening proposals in some of those areas are still on the table, not because we stonewalled, but because the companies refused to talk about them. So they didn’t even give us a chance to make some kind of compromise on them. They wouldn’t even talk about them...around the core issues, they refused to have any conversation.
posted by mediareport at 3:28 PM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh, and on this:

This is a strike. Watch nothing. Falling back on streaming services for scripted shows is just rewarding the abusers for their abusive tactics. They get their money.

They don't care if you watch or not, it's the subscription. If you are serious, stop your subscription.

It's probably worth keeping in mind that the union is not (yet) calling for anyone to stop subscribing or stop watching television, and that as a general rule supporters should follow a union's lead about what it would like us to do in solidarity.
posted by mediareport at 3:31 PM on May 2, 2023 [17 favorites]

My Son’s List of Demands While I Strike, by Bess Kalb
posted by Etrigan at 3:54 PM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

My Son’s List of Demands While I Strike, by Bess Kalb

Mocking and belittling of the demands made by these people who are trying to afford housing and support families. I don't recommend.
posted by hippybear at 3:59 PM on May 2, 2023

Mocking and belittling of the demands made by these people who are trying to afford housing and support families. I don't recommend.

The author, Bess Kalb, is a writer for Kimmel and is on strike.
posted by Maecenas at 4:24 PM on May 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

The author, Bess Kalb, is a writer for Kimmel and is on strike.

Well, their messaging didn't work well with me. I support their strike, but don't support this example of parody or satire or whatever it's supposed to be.

Comparing the demands of people needing to maintain their life with children wanting more bedtime stories is not supportive of their cause, even if the person who wrote it is associated with the strike.
posted by hippybear at 4:35 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

While you beg the Network and Streaming CEOs for a tiny fraction of their ludicrous-to-the-point-of-incalculable profits off your guild’s creative labor so that you can afford to support me and my brother (NO NEED TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM - IGNORE) while not going into advertising, you will have a significant increase in time to read bedtime books.

I dunno, her message kinda resonates with me
posted by OHenryPacey at 4:40 PM on May 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

Right, I think the joke is that, since she no longer has the “excuse” of being busy at work, her son presents a list of demands for her free time. It doesn’t mean she’s mocking the strike.

This sort of humor may resonate better with those who have small kids, which excludes me.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:02 PM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Now is the time for improve to shine!

Assuming they're not also taking time off in solidarity.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:17 PM on May 2, 2023

I, uh, I'm not sure if it's helpful to tut-tut strike-worker's attempts at finding levity out of this or similar situations with this as a backdrop. Like, what happened to just not finding things funny.

Then again, I'm not in the WGA either, though I'm doing my best to materially support them otherwise, so maybe I'm just finding the comfiest position in my glass house.
posted by Pachylad at 5:18 PM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

I support their strike, but don't support this example of parody or satire or whatever it's supposed to be.

It’s definitely important that a woman understands she’s doing life wrong.
posted by Etrigan at 5:19 PM on May 2, 2023 [16 favorites]

This is a strike. Watch nothing. Falling back on streaming services for scripted shows is just rewarding the abusers for their abusive tactics. They get their money.

They don't care if you watch or not, it's the subscription. If you are serious, stop your subscription.

Alternative solution: sailing the seven seas
posted by Pachylad at 5:20 PM on May 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Being able to hire a boat and do any amount of even limited, harbor-bound itineraries is really a level of privilege most people can't imagine. Let alone actually doing all seven of the seas. I could see maybe achieving one or two of them after a decent inheritance, but more than that, you've got to be pretty well monied.

You know... like a Hollywood executive who doesn't want to hire and pay writers anymore.
posted by hippybear at 5:23 PM on May 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

[i get the joke don't @ me]
posted by hippybear at 5:23 PM on May 2, 2023

SNL is “ late-night” not broadcast.
AP
“The strike’s impact on scripted series and films will take longer to notice. If a strike persisted through the summer, fall TV schedules could be upended. In the meantime, those with finished scripts are permitted to continue shooting.”
posted by Ideefixe at 5:25 PM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Huh? It’s on NBC. It’s broadcast tv.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 5:30 PM on May 2, 2023

Wow, James Corden sure picked the right time to end the Late Late Show (last Thursday.)

I'm cancelling my streaming services in solidarity with the writers. Between my hard drives of content, YouTube, yo ho ho, and other entertainment like video games, I'm confident I'll be able to last longer than the execs.
posted by neon909 at 6:12 PM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Members of the WGA who work in broadcast TV, radio, streaming news, online media, nonfiction podcasts, nonfiction TV, and public TV aren’t on strike.

The strike rules are pretty clear that all members must not deliver any new material or enter into new negotiations with any struck company.

There’s no exception for “broadcast TV” or “radio” or “online media.” In fact, the rules explicitly say they apply to audiovisual and audio works “including feature motion pictures, television and new media,” and that they apply for example to animated TV series and fiction podcasts.

“In the meantime, those with finished scripts are permitted to continue shooting.”

Yes, the strike rules allow striking writers to be paid for work delivered before the strike. But that doesn’t mean those writers are not on strike.
posted by mbrubeck at 6:20 PM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh, I see. The strike FAQ does note that the MBA does not cover news (including TV/radio/streaming news), nonfiction television, or nonfiction podcasts.

I misunderstood your comment about “broadcast TV, radio, streaming news” to be about all broadcast TV and radio, rather than just news.
posted by mbrubeck at 6:31 PM on May 2, 2023

The season of Friday Night Lights written by scab writers is a striking example of why good writers are worth every penny.

Landry killed a guy in the season two premiere. That aired a month before the strike happened. No scab writers worked on that season. It ended prematurely like a lot of shows in 2007-08. All those scripts were written before the strike happened. That said, there would have been no room for re-writes when production happened but the die was already cast on that story.
posted by crossoverman at 6:40 PM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

I've heard studios have been stockpiling scripts so they can weather the strike. They'll buy an entire season of a new show rather than just the pilot and a few episodes. It costs more upfront and is riskier, but then they aren't stuck with no scripts at all.

Heck, isn't it easier to just pay writers for their efforts, since you are making profits from that work? (And that includes residuals for streaming, etc, etc). It is just more of the same: "All the money is for me! Why should I give you any of it?"
posted by eye of newt at 10:42 PM on May 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Bad news everyone, dril is against the strike. /sarcasm
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:42 AM on May 3, 2023

I've heard studios have been stockpiling scripts so they can weather the strike. They'll buy an entire season of a new show rather than just the pilot and a few episodes. It costs more upfront and is riskier, but then they aren't stuck with no scripts at all.

Do you have a citation for this? It sounds like nonsense, because it's not how TV writing works, like, at all. Production companies aren't staffing writers' rooms to crank out an entire season of scripts for a show that no one has paid them for.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:18 AM on May 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

NPR, from a few days ago: " CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, said ... said streamers are stockpiling scripts."

LA Times, from a few months ago: "But studios, networks and producers are nonetheless preparing for the worst through a variety of contingency plans that include accelerating production schedules, stockpiling scripts and boosting international productions."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:52 AM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Right, they're accelerating production schedules of already-ordered shows, not buying entire seasons sight unseen. They did this in 2007 as well but there's no way they're able to "stockpile" enough shootable scripts to weather a long strike.
posted by rhymedirective at 8:39 AM on May 3, 2023

am not sure how best to support the picket except refusing to watch non-scripted shows.

Strike assistance links at the WGA strike hub.

I checked and the links are to apply for assistance. Maybe I'm searching wrong but I wasn't able to find any links to actually donate. Could it be illegal to donate?
posted by M. at 8:56 AM on May 3, 2023

Katie Couric talks to Chris Keyser from the WGA negotiating committee about the strike. [27m]
posted by hippybear at 8:57 AM on May 3, 2023

WGA West has a $20 million strike fund, so they seem good on that for now:

The WGA West’s most recent annual report shows that as of last March 31, it had amassed a strike fund of nearly $20 million, all of which has been set aside to provide loans or grants to members “adversely affected by a strike.” That’s more than double the $9.2 million it had set aside in a strike fund in advance of the 100-day strike of 2007-08, when more than $3 million in strike loans was distributed to members during and after the walkout.

The best thing to do, according to multiple striking folks on social media, is boost their arguments online and make sure to let the conglomerates like Disney, Warner, Paramount and Netflix know that you support the writers and want them to be able to earn a living, instead of turning TV and movie writing into crappily paid gig work.
posted by mediareport at 10:21 AM on May 3, 2023

WGA presumably has a nice strike fund already, and hasn't asked for donations. You can, however, donate to have food and water delivered to the picket line.
posted by tofu_crouton at 10:22 AM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

"If enough people cancel their subscriptions—even in the short run in solidarity—that will actually make a statement."
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 10:23 AM on May 3, 2023

That's a great article, CheesesOfBrazil. I liked the part about showing up to the picket lines if you live in NY or LA, and this was a sharp jab, too:

“In 2007, they refused to discuss streaming because they were like, ‘Oh, it’s streaming, it’s nothing. It doesn’t exist. We don’t know what it’ll be,’” David said. “Well, the day the 2007 strike ended, Hulu was opened up.”

(It was a month after the 2007 strike ended that Hulu opened its beta to the public, but yeah, point stands.)

Worth noting that your quote about cancelling subscriptions is from "film writer Ed Horowitz" on the picket line, and doesn't seem to be an official position of the union, which is still not calling for a boycott. Maybe they really want to but it's too hard to organize, or they feel the public won't sign on, and would actually be happy for us to start cancelling; I dunno. But public opinion is a huge factor here, and helping the writers fight back against spin and misinformation from the conglomerates is something all of us can do.
posted by mediareport at 10:34 AM on May 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Chris Keyser in that interview posted above states explicitly that they are not asking people to cancel streaming services.
posted by hippybear at 10:40 AM on May 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Ahmad Khani—

Late-night shows, via Deadline.
The WGA categories aren’t always apparent to those who aren’t in the business.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:40 PM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Writer Peter Clines, who was reporting during the 2007-8 strike, posted a detailed timeline on the bird site of how that strike played out.
posted by mediareport at 6:52 AM on May 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards Will Not Be Held Live
posted by brundlefly at 6:10 PM on May 5, 2023

fwiw...
Hollywood Says a Writers Strike is Inevitable. But Why? - "The last few years have seemed like a great time to work in TV. Writers say they do more work for less pay."

...just as streaming has fundamentally changed how we watch TV, it’s also altered the way TV is made — and how everyone gets paid. Creative people at first welcomed some of the changes. Not knowing how many people watched your show was freeing for writers who’d spent years trying to satisfy ratings-obsessed network executives. Selling out all the rights up front gave them bigger paydays and the certainty of financial success. Netflix treated every show like it was a success.

But as the Netflix way became standard practice, people started to see some flaws. Streaming services order fewer episodes per season, preferring an average of about 10 episodes over the broadcast norm of more than 20. That typically means fewer writers work on each show and those that do write earn less money. Writers get paid extra if they are the credited writer on an episode, and the average minimum salary for the writers hasn’t climbed commensurate with per-episode budgets.

Most shows also don’t last as long, as streaming services have tended to see new shows as more effective at luring subscribers. Rare is the show that lasts more than three or four seasons. Broadcast hits like NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy have hit season 20. A writer on a hit broadcast show could expect residuals — payments for when a show is rerun — to take care of them between jobs. But residuals in streaming are smaller and don’t fully account for a show’s success.

Streaming services buy out most of the rights up front, which means there is little upside when you produce a big hit. Jason Blum has for years questioned the logic of stripping the filmmakers of participation in the upside. Having skin in the game would force people to be more conscientious about costs.

The rush to produce more TV has put a lot of strain on the system. There weren’t enough experienced show runners to oversee all the new shows, which meant a lot of people were forced into positions for which they weren’t ready. But writers also haven’t been allowed to spend as much time on set, which has resulted in them not getting experience that would help them advice in their career.

All this means that while people at the very top of the system, like Shonda Rhimes and Mindy Kaling, are doing just fine, the average worker feels they have to do more work for less pay.

Cord cutting, streaming losses and the 'terrifying math' driving the writers strike - "So the streaming wars that had been all about subscriber growth are now all about cost cuts and future profitability."

also btw...
The Unified Content Business Model - "[E]verything, in the end, is on its way to freemium."[1,2,3]

In this world the only scarce resource is attention: even if a user is “second-screening” — on their phone while watching TV, for example — they are only ever paying attention to one piece of content at any given moment. It follows, then, that value is a function of attention, because value is always downstream from scarcity.

posted by kliuless at 1:01 AM on May 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Today I learned from Dan Povenmire that production on the new season of Phineas & Ferb is still going forward because animation writers aren't in the WGA, they're in The Animator's Guild, IATSE Local 839.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:53 AM on May 6, 2023

You know, it occurs to me, we could use a comprehensive list of writers who are on strike but who have things online which pay per listen/view so we could be listening/viewing to help give them even the fraction-of-a-cent income they might receive from that listen/view. Is there such a thing available?
posted by hippybear at 3:11 PM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Twitter thread from Sera Gamble, a writer on You and The Magicians, How having writers on set during production saves money:

...The writer on set is often the only person who knows minute details of what's gonna happen 6 episodes from now. So they're able to see performance through that lens, and advise the director who can work with an actor to make choices that will best support their character's arc.

...The writer on set is the extension and representative of the showrunner. They're probably texting said showrunner 5-20 times a day. They can get quick answers, real-time heads-ups from the writers' room, or official word that flower crowns absolutely should not be in a scene.

...Now do the math on that wee reshoot the writer on set could have prevented. Now imagine that over the course of their episode, writer prevents just 5 things from happening that would require a reshoot, pickup, insert shots, or VFX. (It's never just 5.)

...A writer on set isn't just getting experience for the future. They're not there because the showrunner is nice or doing them a favor. They are actively producing the show. This is true when the writer is new and learning fast, and quadruple-true when they are experienced.

Worth a read. Follow it up with the handy chart in the piece published by the Hollywood Reporter this morning, Hollywood CEO Pay: Big Checks, Ugly Optics Amid Strike.
posted by mediareport at 6:08 PM on May 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

Also worth a follow is Lindsay Dougherty, a kickass woman who's the head of the Teamsters Hollywood Local 399. She inspired a room full of writers with Teamster support ("If you throw up a picket line, those fucking trucks will stop, I promise you") and isn't afraid to piss off the studios for "starving our industry." The Teamsters' contract is up next year; she knows this is everyone's fight.

Here's a nice quick profile of Dougherty in LA Mag from March.
posted by mediareport at 6:22 PM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

(Oops, sorry, I think the local 399 contract was renegotiated last year and will last 3 years.)
posted by mediareport at 6:26 PM on May 8, 2023

Tonys Won’t Be Televised After WGA Denies Strike Waiver
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:51 AM on May 13, 2023

Okay, now I'm confused as to how they aren't allowed to use the script if the script is already written and presumably everyone else is still able to use done scripts for other shows?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:44 AM on May 15, 2023

From what I've been able to glean from googling around writers can still picket shows that have completed scripts they just choose? not to in most cases. However the high profile and time dependent nature of the Tonys make them a natural easy target for picketing.
posted by Mitheral at 12:08 PM on May 15, 2023

Also, I'm guessing the broadcast would require at least some actors who are also in SAG-AFTRA, as well as workers in the "below the line" unions who set up, etc. Those unions have expressed solidarity with WGA and it may be difficult to get folks from those unions willing to work the show.
posted by mediareport at 12:43 PM on May 15, 2023