The Hollywood writers start a strike that could paralyze the industry, after negotiations that have concluded without an agreement between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP), which includes the major studios.

“Although our Negotiating Committee began this process with the intention of reaching a fair agreement, the responses of the studies have been totally insufficient given the existential crisis that writers are facing”, maintains the union, which has advanced that the pickets will begin this Tuesday and has called its members to unite.

The WGA claims approximately $600 million in salary increases and other benefits, such as the ‘residuals‘, the compensation they receive every time their product is broadcast on television again and which, according to the union, have been diminished by the ‘streaming’ platforms.

The The last writers’ strike in Hollywood was in 2007.: lasted more than a month and involved losses of 2.1 billion dollars, as well as the dismissal of 37,000 professionals.

The decision to go on strike comes after six weeks of negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP, which includes major studios such as Disney, Apple, Amazon, Paramount, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony. In a statement collected by local media, the alliance says that it presented the scriptwriters with a proposal that included “generous increases” in the remuneration of writers, as well as improvements in the ‘residuals’ and that it was willing to improve the offer.

However, the studies argue that given the magnitude of other requests from the WGA, such as having a minimum level of staff for the television writers’ rooms, as well as a guaranteed minimum work of weeks per program, they did not see options for an agreement.

The concerns of the writers respond to the changes that the industry has undergone since the arrival of the streaming platforms: although television productions have increased, the conditions are uncertain due to the reduction in episodes of the series, the few opportunities for new talent and unpaid work on projects that have not yet been approved.

In this context, the union accuses the big Hollywood companies of “further devalue the profession of writing“, due to their “unchangeable” stances during the negotiations. “They have closed the door on their workforce and they have opened the door to writing as a totally independent profession. Such an agreement could never be contemplated by this membership,” she maintains.

Among the most pressing consequences of this strike is the almost immediate stoppage of daily television programs, talk shows and other current projects. In addition, the series and movie premieres could experience delays significant and gradually the general production of audiovisual products in the country would come to a standstill. Likewise, a strong economic impact is expected in production centers such as Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta.