Hollywood scriptwriters have been on strike for a month and with no sign of reaching an agreement

The Writers Guild of Hollywood (WGA) he completed a month on strike No date to resume negotiations. A strike that, if it continues, could affect 600 productions and cause economic losses greater than those caused by the strike in 2007, which reached US$2 billion.

“The Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) has not returned to the table and they are still unwilling to offer any type of proposal for our most serious concerns”, screenwriter Haley Harris, responsible for titles such as “Sweeth Tooth” (2021) and “The Leftovers” (2014), told EFE.

The dialogue between the WGA and the AMPTP for the renewal of the sector agreement ended on May 1 without an agreement, which led the more than 10,000 affiliated scriptwriters to start this strike on the 2nd of that month, which from its beginning warned the gradual stoppage of film and television productions.

The industry ripples were immediate, and weekly TV shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” or “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” stopped the making of new chapters.

A short time later, series such as “Stranger Things”, “The Last of Us” and “Andor” announced that they would stop their productions. So far, more than 50 projects have been affected by the strike and if it continues, the AMPTP estimated that the number could rise to 600.

The intention of the scriptwriters is to hinder the advancement of the greatest number of productions possible until “empty the contents pipe” and to achieve this they have been changing their strategies by organizing massive pickets outside the shootings in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

In addition, unlike the last strike, which lasted 100 days, in this one the scriptwriters have the support of other unions such as the directors’ (DGA), the actors’ (SAG-AFTRA) and even the drivers’ unions. trucks, which has put further pressure on companies.

“The day after the declaration of strike, all the members of the WGA were summoned to a meeting where the leaders of all the hollywood syndicates: All!. It was impressive to feel your support and the determination of your colleagues to make common sense prevail in this negotiation.”, said the Spanish screenwriter Julia Fontana.

This solidarity union has made the AMPTP strategy based on a “divide and conquer” according to Fontana, author of series such as “Lucifer” (2016) or “The InBetween” (2019).

The scriptwriter believes that the scriptwriters’ strike will continue its course, at least until the alliance finalizes agreements with two other groups, that of the directors -with whom it is now in discussion- and with the actors, because it refuses to have negotiations with more than one guild at a time.

The validity of the actors and directors agreements ends on June 30.

The conflict could worsen for the companies if they fail to reach an agreement with said organizations, since the actors’ union has already called on its members to vote for an authorization to declare a strike.

“If the actors also go on strike, the studios will find themselves in a very difficult situation,” Fontana said.

When consulted by EFE, the AMPTP once again referred to its statement of May 4, in which they broke down their proposals presented to the WGA, making it clear that there has been no progress in the negotiations so far.

they won’t give up

This strike does not only have economic consequences for the production companies, but also for the scriptwriters themselves, who risk losing job opportunities and depleting their savings.

Fontana explained that, “paradoxically”, their precarious labor system has prepared them to endure a long break, since the profession is used to spending long periods of time without working.

In addition, union members have taken up collections to help people in the industry financially affected by the strike, and the WGA has a $20 million fund to help writers who need financial assistance.

More visible repercussions

Haley explained that it is likely that this year the public will only see the consequences of the strike reflected in the television field, although he predicts that the Hollywood awards season will be diminished by not having the support of the writers in their promotional campaigns or their presence at deliveries.

So far, the Daytime Emmys have already postponed their date due to the conflict and awards with less impact, such as the MTV TV & Movie Awards, were forced to cancel the face-to-face ceremony due to the threat of demonstrations and the desertion of some presenters in support of the scriptwriters.

But the consequences have already reached some franchise film productions with box office records such as the “Spider-Man” saga starring Tom Holland.

The actor recently announced that the meetings for the fourth film had been interrupted indefinitely “in solidarity” with the writers.

The writers vow not to budge on the most urgent requests that the AMPTP has refused to negotiate.

Among them are to guarantee minimum dimensions for the “mini rooms”, the rooms in which scripts for series that have not yet been approved are written; that proportional payments for creators be regularized each time their work is broadcast again and that the use of artificial intelligence be regulated.

Source: EFE