[New post] Column: The Hollywood writers’ strike is over. What happens now?
gqlshare posted: "By Nina Metz, Chicago TribuneNow that the strike by the Writers Guild of America, which began in May, appears to be over, what happens now?The WGA's nearly 12,000 members have until Oct. 9 to ratify the contract. Here are some of the details, as outlined " The Ukiah Daily Journal
Now that the strike by the Writers Guild of America, which began in May, appears to be over, what happens now?
The WGA's nearly 12,000 members have until Oct. 9 to ratify the contract. Here are some of the details, as outlined on the WGA website:
Baseline minimum wages will go up 5% once the contract is ratified. They will go up an additional 4% in the spring of 2024 and 3.5% the following year.
Artificial intelligence was a major sticking point and here's what both sides agreed to: "AI can't write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the (contract), meaning that AI-generated material can't be used to undermine a writer's credit or separated rights."
There will be a new viewership-based streaming pay bonus applied to TV shows and movies "that are viewed by 20% or more of the service's domestic subscribers in the first 90 days of release."
That also means streamers have agreed to provide to the WGA, "subject to a confidentiality agreement, the total number of hours streamed, both domestically and internationally, of self-produced high budget streaming programs (e.g., a Netflix original series)." That's a relatively limited slice data (streamers use all kinds of metrics to assess value, including things like completion rate) but it is the first time any amount of streaming transparency has been codified in a contract. For the rest of us who won't be privy to this confidential information, the data may still be murky.
Up next is getting a contract for actors, represented by SAG-AFTRA, who remain on strike. WGA members are likely to continue picketing with them, though it is unclear whether or not writers will return to work even if actors are still on strike.
Striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) members picket with striking SAG-AFTRA members outside Netflix studios on September 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Chances are, a deal with actors will happen quickly as well. Everyone wants to get back to work and if the studios were motivated enough to agree to a mutually agreeable contract with writers after all this time, it's probably safe to assume they're ready to wrap this up with actors too.
Once that happens, that means crew members — who have also been out of work during much of the strike — will be back on the job again. So this is good news for everyone working in the film industry, including exhibitors who are probably breathing a sigh of relief as well.
Talk shows — late-night and daytime — will likely be back on TV first. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" returns with new episodes Monday, Oct. 2. One has to wonder what the atmosphere will be like for returning staff at "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," after allegations of a toxic workplace were reported earlier this month, and at "The Drew Barrymore Show," after the host initially planned to move forward with her show earlier this month despite the strike, only to change her mind after the decision personally garnered her bad press and pushback from the WGA.
As for scripted series, it will take a little time for things to ramp back up. On network TV, we probably won't see new episodes of weekly shows returning until sometime in the new year. Instead of a typical 22-episode season for shows such as "Chicago Fire" and the like, expect a 13-episode season starting in the winter. In terms of writers getting the season mapped out and those first scripts polished and ready to shoot, the numbers I'm hearing are in the 8 to 10-week neighborhood.
On the streaming side, it means every show that has halted production — including "Stranger Things" — will resume once actors are also free to return to work. Shows that were in development but paused during the strike are also back in the game. Streaming is a precarious business and there's always the chance that executives will decide to simply move on from any number of projects that were in various stages of development when the strikes began. Then again, streamers also have a pipeline problem: They don't have an endless backlog of new shows, which they're going to need in 2024, even if that number will be significantly lower than in years past.
Things are harder to parse on the movie side. For months, work on non-indie projects has ground to a halt, which includes next summer's slate of blockbusters. I suspect there will be immense pressure to speed along several projects in an effort to make up for lost time. Plenty of studios punted their fall premieres into 2024, worried that movies would tank without actors to promote them.
We should see these contracts are ratified in the next few weeks, but the studios will have to contend with frustrated workers in other areas of the industry in short order. Earlier this month, Marvel VFX artists voted to unionize. There is renewed interest among reality TV cast and crew to unionize. And the contracts the studios have with the Animation Guild as well as IATSE, the union that represents most crew members, both expire next year.
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