At midnight, the members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike after the board of directors for both the eastern and western branches of the union unanimously called for a walkout. Some of the effects of this decision won’t be obvious to media consumers for months. Others will hit right away. And the reason behind the strike is something that threatens creative workers in all fields: how the change in content delivery in a digital age has turned almost all such work into a “gig economy” in which writers are not getting paid fairly.
This decision to strike comes after weeks of negotiation in which the WGA attempted to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In the course of the last few years, studios have rushed to embrace streaming services and exclusivity, putting both series and films within the “walled garden” of their own pay-to-view service. As the WGA wrote back in March, studios have used the changing nature of the industry as an excuse to “cut writer pay and separate writing from production, making working conditions worse for series writers at all levels.”
This means writers are not just working for a lower rate, but being forced to produce content faster. Even as streaming services have increased the budgets for their series to all-time highs that often reach many millions per episode, pay for writers has fallen.
With these writers now on strike, some of the effects will be seen by tonight as late-night shows, like the one hosted by Stephen Colbert, shut down for the duration.
The way that series production takes place on streaming platforms appears to be at the heart of the issues between the WGA and studios. Even as streamers from Netflix to Disney to HBO Max lavish huge budgets onto new series, pouring money into sets, special effects, and hiring actors who a few years ago would not have considered appearing on “the small screen,” writers are getting the very short end of the stick. Most of these high-budget streaming series are still paying writers by the episode, and they’re often paying writers less than they got for writing lower-budget programs on broadcast networks. On some of the most costly shows in history the writing staff is being paid at guild minimums, and over a much shorter period of time. In some cases, the situation is even worse: Studios have not even agreed to pay guild minimums on comedy shows, including “The Problem with Jon Stewart” on Apple’s streaming service.
In short, studios are finding the budgets to make special effects look spectacular and get big stars to do a cameo, but they refuse to pay to make plots coherent or dialogue sing. If you’ve watched a series on one of the streaming services and felt like the production values were being let down by the writing, realize that the writing is often being treated as the least important part of the show.
How bad is the problem? As of 2022, 98% of all staff writers and 95% of all story editors were working for the WGA minimum pay. That pay is per episode. There are fewer episodes, with streaming services opting for more limited or “short-order” series. And even as writers are making less, the WGA says they’ve also been deprived of the kind of regular schedule—including schedule for payments—that held true in the broadcast era. “Their pay is often stretched out over many months and can be held hostage by producers’ demands for free work,” according to union officials.
What the union is asking for is that writers be paid more, mostly by treating the short-order streaming series as if they were longer series. That would give the writers not just more pay, but more time to work on ideas, collaborate, and produce scripts that justify the special effects and location budgets of these extremely costly series.
With the strike hitting both parts of the WGA, the long-term effects are likely to be seen in the form of delays. Films that were about to start shooting will be pushed back. Even some of those in the midst of shooting are almost certain to meet with delays or temporary production shutdowns.
Many of those streaming series at the center of the dispute already have new seasons in the can, so if you’re waiting on a series that was expected to come back within the next few weeks, it’s likely to arrive on schedule. However, series still in production will be shuttered, and the gap between seasons—already irregular for streaming series—is likely to become considerably longer.
The most immediate effect will be on those series that film live, or nearly so. Among others, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” has already announced that it is ceasing production until the strike is resolved. Expect similar shutdowns for “The Daily Show” and other late-night shows. Programs such as “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which run slightly behind real-time, may carry on for a week, but will also be off the air if the strike continues for more than a few days. “Saturday Night Live” is expected to cancel this week’s episode.
For the writers, there are good reasons to think of this as an existential battle. As studios move to streaming platforms, writers who a few years ago may have been getting paid for a 13-episode or 22-episode series can find themselves being paid for just six or eight episodes of a new series, even though the overall budget for that series is the same or higher. Then, because the studios used the pivot to streaming to alter writing and production roles, they’re often being paid less per episode. On top of all that, the money for “residuals,” which was paid out when there were re-broadcasts of shows, has evaporated.
This is the rare instance where the show must not go on. Both the continued welfare of the writers and the existence of the guild are on the line. The last writers’ strike lasted 100 days. Hopefully this will be resolved more quickly.
This decision to strike comes after weeks of negotiation in which the WGA attempted to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In the course of the last few years, studios have rushed to embrace streaming services and exclusivity, putting both series and films within the “walled garden” of their own pay-to-view service. As the WGA wrote back in March, studios have used the changing nature of the industry as an excuse to “cut writer pay and separate writing from production, making working conditions worse for series writers at all levels.”
This means writers are not just working for a lower rate, but being forced to produce content faster. Even as streaming services have increased the budgets for their series to all-time highs that often reach many millions per episode, pay for writers has fallen.
With these writers now on strike, some of the effects will be seen by tonight as late-night shows, like the one hosted by Stephen Colbert, shut down for the duration.
The way that series production takes place on streaming platforms appears to be at the heart of the issues between the WGA and studios. Even as streamers from Netflix to Disney to HBO Max lavish huge budgets onto new series, pouring money into sets, special effects, and hiring actors who a few years ago would not have considered appearing on “the small screen,” writers are getting the very short end of the stick. Most of these high-budget streaming series are still paying writers by the episode, and they’re often paying writers less than they got for writing lower-budget programs on broadcast networks. On some of the most costly shows in history the writing staff is being paid at guild minimums, and over a much shorter period of time. In some cases, the situation is even worse: Studios have not even agreed to pay guild minimums on comedy shows, including “The Problem with Jon Stewart” on Apple’s streaming service.
In short, studios are finding the budgets to make special effects look spectacular and get big stars to do a cameo, but they refuse to pay to make plots coherent or dialogue sing. If you’ve watched a series on one of the streaming services and felt like the production values were being let down by the writing, realize that the writing is often being treated as the least important part of the show.
How bad is the problem? As of 2022, 98% of all staff writers and 95% of all story editors were working for the WGA minimum pay. That pay is per episode. There are fewer episodes, with streaming services opting for more limited or “short-order” series. And even as writers are making less, the WGA says they’ve also been deprived of the kind of regular schedule—including schedule for payments—that held true in the broadcast era. “Their pay is often stretched out over many months and can be held hostage by producers’ demands for free work,” according to union officials.
What the union is asking for is that writers be paid more, mostly by treating the short-order streaming series as if they were longer series. That would give the writers not just more pay, but more time to work on ideas, collaborate, and produce scripts that justify the special effects and location budgets of these extremely costly series.
With the strike hitting both parts of the WGA, the long-term effects are likely to be seen in the form of delays. Films that were about to start shooting will be pushed back. Even some of those in the midst of shooting are almost certain to meet with delays or temporary production shutdowns.
Many of those streaming series at the center of the dispute already have new seasons in the can, so if you’re waiting on a series that was expected to come back within the next few weeks, it’s likely to arrive on schedule. However, series still in production will be shuttered, and the gap between seasons—already irregular for streaming series—is likely to become considerably longer.
The most immediate effect will be on those series that film live, or nearly so. Among others, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” has already announced that it is ceasing production until the strike is resolved. Expect similar shutdowns for “The Daily Show” and other late-night shows. Programs such as “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which run slightly behind real-time, may carry on for a week, but will also be off the air if the strike continues for more than a few days. “Saturday Night Live” is expected to cancel this week’s episode.
For the writers, there are good reasons to think of this as an existential battle. As studios move to streaming platforms, writers who a few years ago may have been getting paid for a 13-episode or 22-episode series can find themselves being paid for just six or eight episodes of a new series, even though the overall budget for that series is the same or higher. Then, because the studios used the pivot to streaming to alter writing and production roles, they’re often being paid less per episode. On top of all that, the money for “residuals,” which was paid out when there were re-broadcasts of shows, has evaporated.
This is the rare instance where the show must not go on. Both the continued welfare of the writers and the existence of the guild are on the line. The last writers’ strike lasted 100 days. Hopefully this will be resolved more quickly.