Over the past week, there have been significant developments in the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike of 2023, which began on May 2, 2023.
As a brief reminder, the WGA strike is an ongoing labor dispute between the Writers Guild of America, representing 11,500 writers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). This strike is the largest disruption to American television and film production since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and it is also the largest labor stoppage that the WGA has performed since the 2007–08 strike.
The crux of the dispute revolves around residuals from streaming media and the use of artificial intelligence in scriptwriting. The WGA asserts that the share of residuals that the AMPTP gets from streaming media has significantly cut the average income of writers compared to a decade ago. Moreover, the WGA wants AI, like ChatGPT, to be used only as a tool for research or to facilitate script ideas, and not as a tool to replace writers.
Before the strike, the Guild proposed terms that would yield writers about $429 million a year, in stark contrast to the AMPTP’s offer of $86 million. The WGA proposed the inclusion of “mandatory staffing” and “duration of employment” terms in their contract, which would require all shows to be staffed with a minimum number of writers for a specified period, regardless of need, according to the AMPTP. Another major proposal from the WGA was to ensure each member of a writing team receives their own pension and health care funds, a proposal rejected by the AMPTP without a counterproposal.
Despite lengthy negotiations with the AMPTP, a satisfactory agreement was not reached by the mandated deadline of May 1, 2023. As a result, an overwhelming majority of the WGA membership voted to go on strike.
In the past week, there hasn’t been a resolution to the strike, but there has been a notable development. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced that they reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP on June 4, 2023. However, the WGA stated that its bargaining positions remain unchanged since May 1, 2023, and they would refrain from commenting on the DGA’s deal points out of respect for their ratification process.
In a display of unity, the WGA is also standing in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA membership, who are in the process of completing their strike authorization vote.
As the strike continues, the WGA remains steadfast in its demands, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely. The current state of affairs underscores the ongoing complexities of labor negotiations within the entertainment industry, particularly in the age of streaming and AI. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.
In Solidarity.
A.I. in Screen Trade 