The Hollywood Writers strike finally came to an end after 148 days of film production being shut down. The strike ended in a huge success for the WGA (Writers Guild of America) after the deal was described as “exceptional” by the Union’s negotiating committee.
The strike first started in May due to concerns about financial compensation from streaming networks. The WGA claimed that the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) was slashing writers’ average incomes. Even though there are agreements in place to establish a minimum wage for TV and film writers, they only apply to those who write for broadcast TV shows, not streaming TV. This causes writers to have to negotiate with streaming companies for their pay by themselves, and in most cases end up paying less, for the same amount of work. In June these agreements for writers came to an end, and statistics ended up showing half of TV writers now work at a minimum salary level. Overall in the last decade, writer/producer levels have dropped four percent.
It was a month later, in July when the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) joined the strike. The SAG had been having their own issues with the AMPTP, which ultimately led them to join the protesting, making this the first time actors and writers have walked simultaneously since 1960. Like the writers, actors were also concerned about their pay related to TV shows and films on streaming services. Negotiators demanded pay based on viewing levels, however, studios like Amazon and Netflix refused to share that information.
“I was proud that people who had been constantly taken advantage of for their talents had finally taken a stand for themselves. Big Hollywood and Broadway shows tend to only see the actors as actors, and not always people. But this strike really fought back against that and showed that the individual people are just as important as the roles they play,“ sophomore Marcus Gahm said.
Due to the strike, production for shows and films completely stopped. As a result, late-night talk shows stopped immediately, and other shows like the Emmys were postponed. This could possibly result in other similar type award shows being postponed. There is also a delay in the Autumn TV season, which usually writing starts in May or June. Now that the strike has been resolved though, minus the few possible delays, production will continue as normal.
The Hollywood writers’ strike was more than people just protesting for something they wanted, these writers and actors showed that when something is not right and people are being treated unfairly, something must be done to fix it. Even if that means stopping the production of shows, that impact the millions of people who watch them every day.
“It was very empowering knowing that people were able to listen to one another, and fix the problem that was at hand,” Gahm said.
