So, is the Writers Guild of America (WGA) going on strike?
It seems so. The WGA, essentially the trade union for writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media in the US, announced on Monday night that, after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, their members would be downing word processors and heading to the picket lines.
What is at issue?
The main bone of contention is compensation for members’ work on streaming content. There is a lot to this. The WGA wants a higher rate on “residuals” – sums paid for repeat screenings – for hit series and greater reward for growth in international subscriptions. There are also demands for minimum staffing in “writers rooms” and protection from the growing threat posed by artificial intelligence.
Will other entertainment workers come out?
Quite possibly. The Teamsters union, which represents those working in transport, issued an unambiguous statement. “This is a shared fight and Teamsters do not cross picket lines,” it read.
But how will this affect me?
In the short term, most viewers outside the US will notice little change to their viewing options. Among the first TV programmes to suffer will be topical shows featuring stars such as Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Maher and John Oliver. Those series rely on writers to provide gags up to mere hours before broadcast. Saturday Night Live, the long-running sketch show, is also likely to be forced into reruns if writers gather at the brazier.
What is the dispute drags on into the summer?
The first scripted shows to go off the air might be old-school US soap operas such as The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless. Even if the strike does continue, it will be many months before the streaming shows popular outside the US run out of stories. It seems as if those services, aware of the looming strike, have been stockpiling scripts for months. Ted Sarandos, chief executive of Netflix, commented: “We do have a pretty robust slate of releases to take us into a long time.”
Will this ultimately mean even more reality TV?
Popular myth has it that the WGA strike in 2007 led to a dramatic rise in the amount of unscripted reality television. But there is dispute over this. “The most popular show on TV during the strike was American Idol, a reality show,” Emily St James, US TV critic, notes. “But it was the most popular show in the years before and after the strike.” Reality TV really boomed at the start of the century.
What will happen to movies?
Any effect on movies – which take a long, long time to develop – will not be apparent for at least a year. Film production did not properly shut down during the three months of the 2007 dispute. But that is not to say cinema was unaffected. Daniel Craig subsequently admitted that, during the strike, he found himself working on the “bare bones” of a script they had for Quantum of Solace. “There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not,” he said. The 2008 film was by far the worst received of Craig’s James Bond adventures.
