Hollywood Writers Go On Strike For a Bigger Slice of Streaming

A Hollywood writer's strike means a temporary pause in seeing white men berated and humiliated in "entertainment."

A festering dispute over how writers are compensated in the streaming era came to a head Monday night, as leaders of the Writers Guild of America called on their members to stage Hollywood's first strike in 15 years.

The boards of directors for the East and West Coast divisions of the WGA voted unanimously to call a strike effective 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, the union said in a statement.

Thousands of WGA members were set to walk picket lines across Los Angeles, New York and other cities Tuesday after the union was unable to reach a last-minute accord with the major studios on a new three-year contract to replace one that expired Monday night.

"The companies' behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing," the WGA said in a statement. "No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership."

In a statement, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it offered "generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals."

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Writers are seeking a larger slice of the streaming pie that has dramatically transformed the television business. They voted by a historic margin in favor -- 98% to 2% -- to grant a strike authorization sought by their leaders if they couldn't reach a deal on a new film and TV contract on behalf of 11,500 members.

The walkout, which could last for weeks or months, is expected to halt much of TV and film production nationwide and reverberate across Southern California, where prop houses, caterers, florists and others heavily depend on the entertainment economy. The previous writers strike in 2007 roiled the industry and lasted 100 days.

They're demanding a bigger piece of streaming as streaming looks like it's on the verge of a collapse. A consolidation, where most of the also-rans are put out of their misery and sold to the few big players left standing.

You can see why Hollywood writers would think that they deserve a raise, what with all the Unqualified Successes they've been scoring with their relentlessly-innovative creativity, taking one old movie and TV show after another and, get this, just writing the exact same thing again but with the main character gender- and race-swapped.

This is, of course, the very zenith of creativity, and all of Hollywood should take a bow for it.

posted by Ace at 04:49 PM

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