{"id":10773,"date":"2023-07-24T00:59:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T04:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=10773"},"modified":"2023-07-30T21:17:21","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T01:17:21","slug":"the-writers-guild-fights-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2023\/07\/the-writers-guild-fights-back\/","title":{"rendered":"The Writers Guild fights back"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>n early July, Tempest member Eric Maroney sat down with Gabriela, an ally close to the Writers Guild of America strike, to talk about the strike action, what is at stake, and what it will take to win. The interview took place several weeks before SAG-AFTRA, the Actors\u2019 Guild announced their own strike. The following is a transcript of that interview, lightly edited for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eric Maroney:<\/span> Can you start by telling me a little bit about the strike? When did it begin? How long have members been out? Is there any anticipation over how it might end?<\/p>\n

Gabriela<\/span>: The strike began on May 2, 2023, so we have been out for a little over two months now. Prior to the strike, there had been a lot of discussion and preparation ahead of the action. Members were pretty clear that they might have to strike and were unwilling to take a mediocre deal or any deal that didn\u2019t address their concerns. In the union, there had already been prepping, getting strike captains ready, but also trying to balance the trades (trade magazines). The employer group is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and they had been putting all this anti-union propaganda into the trades.<\/p>\n

You know we have all these publications–Variety, Deadline\u2014which are the trade papers that everyone reads, kind of the gossip column of the entertainment world. It is kind of like a mouthpiece. We put things in the trades like press releases, but the AMPTP has a direct line. So the AMPTP had been putting things out there pre-strike, things like the WGA is just striking to strike. And so, for at least about a year, we have been preparing to strike.<\/p>\n

EM:<\/span> Has this been ahead of a contract negotiation? Tell me a little bit about what has led to the strike?<\/p>\n

Gabriela:<\/span> The contract expired on May 1. The contract is three years and it\u2019s called the minimum basic agreement. WGA is more of a guild, so people can negotiate better but the contract sets the minimum standards for writers in screen and television, including cable and streaming services. The last strike was in 2007-2008 and that was at least partially about residuals (most people think of the term royalties), but residuals are the check you get after selling what you have written, which can sustain writers through long periods of not having employment. Part of the strike in 2007-2008 was about getting any kind of residuals from streaming.<\/p>\n

Streaming was still kind of a newish idea, and how you calculate residuals was an issue. On the networks, every time something is played, under the minimum agreement, a writer gets a check. And so you could make something out of that. Even if you write a one-hit-wonder that is played over and over again, you could at least make some basic income while you are trying to pitch and write other stories. The writers did win some residuals back in 2007-2008, but it wasn\u2019t enough of a percentage, and it doesn\u2019t compare to cable. That has gotten worse for a number of reasons. Streaming is now the main platform through which entertainment is consumed and most streaming writers are employed at the minimum compensation and for less hours\u2014a result of shorter production runs.<\/p>\n

2020 was the last time the contract came up for negotiations and we were in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdowns, and in 2020 there was already an appetite among members to tackle this disparity. There was already this feeling that whoa, there\u2019s a lot of streaming. We\u2019re not getting enough. Writers aren\u2019t getting enough from residuals\u2014like if a film feature is released direct to streaming and not to the theater, there is a lot less compensation. But it was COVID, and a lot of the other entertainment guilds were decimated by COVID, a lot of people were laid off. The writers were not, but there was this fear that there would also be massive layoffs for the writers. That didn\u2019t happen, but what did happen is that streaming took off in a whole different way. Everyone is stuck at home. They\u2019re all watching Netflix and Amazon. Apple TV comes out. And so the last agreement (MBA) does not cover this new industry-wide change. Writers, since 2020, have been clear that in this next contract, we are going to have to get ready; we are going to have to strike.<\/p>\n

EM:<\/span> My understanding is that, I mean this is obvious, but the streaming companies were really making money hand over fist during the pandemic. Am I right? Because all of a sudden, there is nothing to do and so people are signing up for multiple services, but that profit was not trickling down to the writers. If I am understanding you correctly, because production was kind of skeletal that also increased the profit margin, so the writers are really being squeezed\u2014the rate of exploitation is heightened because the workforce is smaller.<\/p>\n

Gabriela:<\/span> That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

EM:<\/span> Wow. That\u2019s wild. Okay, so take us to where we are now with the strike.<\/p>\n

Gabriela:<\/span> The streaming companies had already been putting out this propaganda that they were losing money, losing subscribers. Netflix posted a loss last quarter, but the union has been really good at countering this narrative with reports and press releases. WGA is divided into WGA East and WGA West. These are separate legal entities, but they bargain together. The West is much larger. There are 11,000 members, and so they are like the powerhouse. I was not personally involved in negotiations and the union agreed to closed sessions, but I do know that there were two weeks on, where they negotiated every day, then there was a two-week hiatus. This is when WGA took the strike authorization vote, which 98% of members approved, and then went back to the table with this hugely supported strike authorization and negotiated for two more weeks. Then on May 1, they released the statement that we were going on strike on May 2. And we are still out now.<\/p>\n

EM:<\/span> What is it that members hope to win out of the strike?<\/p>\n

Gabriela:<\/span> Better residuals, a better formula for residuals for streaming. Right now it\u2019s something like a lump sum. The production companies pay out a lump sum because they\u2019re claiming that since it\u2019s streaming, people can watch it any number of times and that it would be impossible to track that. First of all, that\u2019s not true. They know exactly how many times I\u2019ve watched Bridgerton, but still, they are claiming that they cannot pay as they do for cable. So one priority of the strike is working out a formula so that people can be compensated fairly for the work they do. Another piece is related to budgeting for writers and the minimum number of writers allowable for a series.<\/p>\n

What the studios have been doing is a show will have a successful first season, and during this first season you\u2019ll have a showrunner and all of these staff writers, who are not famous and who are entry-level\u2014this is where you\u2019ll see more women writers, more writers of color. When the show is renewed for a second season, the production company cuts the writing budget. Maybe they only budget for three staff writers, so in year one you had this big room full of writers who worked together and put together a successful idea\u2014which, of course, is the hardest part\u2014but in the second year they are not brought back to the project. This is part of the minimum number of writers that we want in the room, and studios don\u2019t want this at all.<\/p>\n

EM:<\/span> I think you had also mentioned something about compensation for writing that is ultimately not used.<\/p>\n

Gabriela:<\/span> Yes, that\u2019s right. There is a whole lot of free work that goes into writing for the studios because they want you to pitch, and you are not getting paid for that work. A writer may pitch something, and the studio reps will say can you rework that and send it to us again? Suddenly the writer has done five rewrites and hasn’t been paid for any of it.<\/p>\n