Writers Riled for Rights
For the first time in 15 years, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), a union of 11,500 Hollywood writers, went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), representing major Hollywood companies. This was declared in May after the WGA and AMPTP’s triennial negotiations broke down. Furthermore, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, representing 160,000 actors, joined the strikes in July, marking the first time since 1960 that Hollywood actors and writers went on strike at the same time (New York Times). Many television shows have been forced to halt production as a result of the strikes. This pause has had the most impact on talk shows and little impact on streaming giants such as Netflix, who have a steady stream of unreleased completed content. Despite stating that they supported the strikes, multiple talk shows, such as the Drew Barrymore Show, resumed production, leading to backlash claiming that they were not standing with the writers and the show subsequently going back on pause (British Broadcasting Service). The WGA and AMPTP began scheduling a meeting to open negotiations and bring an end to the strikes in mid September and on Sept. 26 the WGA and the film studios reached a tentative agreement to end the strikes (The Hollywood Reporter). The agreement addressed the WGA’s main concerns by giving them a streaming residual based on viewership and by guaranteeing that material generated by artificial intelligence (AI) would not be given credit over writers (CNBC News).
The strikes have had a massive economic impact on unemployment. The pause in production has put crew members such as set designers, prop houses and makeup artists out of work, with Disney and Warner Brothers laying off thousands of employees. Experts estimate that a prolonged strike could cost California’s economy at least $3 billion, a billion more than the successful 2007 WGA Strikes, which was also spurred by low residuals (Forbes). The WGA claims that about $30 million is lost daily due to the strikes (Washington Post). Concerned for the effects it may have on California’s economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom offered to mediate between the two sides, so that both their concerns are addressed and the Hollywood industry can resume (The Hill). Sophomore Keita Kimoto, has evaluated the earnings of the film industry and believes that the damage to California’s economy will not be as drastic as the experts claim.
“Especially for big shows, they usually have a budget of $10 million per episode,” Kimoto said. “If they are not able to get to that budget for a long period of time, it will cause vast economic damage, especially for companies like Disney who distribute those shows to the public. So it is good that [the strikes] happened this year because it was a [successful] year for the film industry in terms of box office records. Really good films [were released], like Super Mario Brothers, Barbie and Oppenheimer. The writers are setting a precedent: when the whole film industry does [well], the people involved get their fair share.”
The actors’ and writers’ main concerns lie in streaming residuals and AI. Streaming has become more popular, especially in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when movie theaters closed. A major problem writers have with streaming industries is the payment they receive. In traditional television, writers would work on more than 20 episodes per season, and would receive residuals whenever a show was licensed, providing them with a steady salary (New York Times). In contrast, with the age of streaming, not only have seasons become shorter, but shows stay on the streaming platform throughout the year, resulting in writers being paid fixed residuals, with some checks being below $10 per season (CNBC News). A particular target for strikers is putting an end to mini rooms, writing rooms in which a small group of writers work more for lower residuals (New York Times). Freshman Summer Kniffin believes that mini-rooms only have a negative impact on writers.
“From my perspective, if I were to be in a room with more people, I could get more ideas,” Kniffin said. “So, being in a smaller room with less people trying to write something and getting paid less would not be productive and result in lower quality writing.”
Another major factor in the strikes is the issue of AI and its implications for the screenwriting industry. Although both sides acknowledge that the implementation of AI in the industry is inevitable, the issue is how AI is applied (Associated Press). Writers and actors are concerned that AI will replicate their writing and recreate their likenesses without their consent or payment. The WGA stated that they would allow AI to be used to help writers shape their creative process as long as the AI does not get credit for the writer’s work. Junior Kynam Lenghiem, President of the Cinematic Design Club, believes that although writers should not be replaced by AI, it is becoming more and more likely that they will.
“[AI] can try its hardest to be like a human but it can never fully emulate a writer who has experiences, moments, troubles and hardships under [their] belt, [which they can] put into [their] writing,” Lenghiem said. “At the same time, there is something that needs to be said about being replaced because AI is getting pretty good at emulating these people, even if they cannot fully replace what they are trying to do. That is where the problem starts to get really dire: people are starting to be unable to tell the difference between writers and AI.”
