By Ayeza Shaur
Have you ever wondered how your favorite shows and movies are produced? Well, aside from your favorite actors and actresses, a lot of people must work together to execute the ideas. However, when the hard work is not being recognized, it calls for a time of change. In May of 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) officially went on strike due to a disagreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA represents about 11,500 screenwriters, and every 3 years they meet with the AMPTP to negotiate a new contract. This covers things such as health and pension benefits, fair payment, and workplace safety. This year, their failure to negotiate ultimately led to the start of the strike.
The WGA released a report, “Writers Are Not Keeping Up”, in March 2023 in which they disclosed that the working conditions of series writers at all levels has worsened. Due to the transition to streaming, writer pay has been cut and writing has been separated from production. “On TV staff, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, or in mini rooms, while showrunners are left without a writing staff to complete the season,” the report reveals. This can be quite problematic. Additionally, the report states that “writers working for streaming services lack the most basic protection of MBA minimums”. Their compensation has also stagnated over the past 4 years. This is a problem, especially for writers who are working at the MBA minimum. Many shows that are streaming have even refused these basic MBA minimums.
Due to this, the Writers Guild is asking for increased minimum compensation in all areas, increased contributions to healthcare plans, fair TV series writing compensation for the entire process, increased residuals, and the strengthening of professional standards and rights of writers.
In July 2023, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced that they would also strike after failure to agree with AMPTP. With 98% of their members agreeing to strike, the SAG-AFTRA went on strike at the same time as the WGA for the first time since 1960. Both the SAG and WGA have similar demands as they are fighting for higher MBA – the collective bargaining agreement that protects the work, covers benefits and rights. They also want an increase in the residuals. Additionally, the SAG wants to create rules about self-tape auditions, videos that actors have to submit to audition from home. Due to the pandemic, these became increasingly popular but the SAG are now finding it problematic. The need to film these tapes at home implies they must pay money out of pocket to get their audition professionally recorded. Therefore, the strike covers this concern as well.
This combination of strikes is expected to delay and pause the production of upcoming Hollywood projects. What anticipated releases are being affected? Well, to begin, many late-night talk shows have been put on hiatus due to the strike. These shows, such as those hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon, are reaching 5 months since their production has been halted due to the strike. Additionally, many anticipated movies and shows for the upcoming years have been stopped in production. Let’s take a look at a few!
- Deadpool 3 – This fan favorite movie series announced a third installment, leaving fans very excited. However, since the initial announcement, the release date for Deadpool 3 has changed twice. Initially announced for September 6th, 2024, the film was later pushed to November 8th, 2024, and now is pushed up to May 4th, 2024. These changes and uncertainties are due to the strikes as Marvel Studios has suspended production.
- Beetlejuice 2 – This fantasy/comedy is set to release on September 6th, 2024. Though they began filming in May 2023, director Tim Burton revealed that they had almost finished production before it was put on suspension due to the SAG-AFTRA Strike.
- Stranger Things Season 5 – The finale of Stranger Things was announced in February of 2022, where fans learned that the story would be officially complete after five total seasons. Production was expected to begin in June 2023, but it was instead paused due the WGA Strike. The Duffer Brothers, however, have been keeping fans updated through Twitter. “Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work,” they tweeted.
