Striking screenwriters, you couldn’t make it up.
Members of the Writers’ Guild of America have gone on strike after talks with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to get an improved contract.
The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike on Tuesday, sending hundreds in Los Angeles and New York to picket lines outside of major studios such as Amazon, Netflix, Paramount and Warner Brothers, instead of their writers’ rooms.
There are also concerns about the use of IA in the writing process.
They tweeted: “The Board of Directors of the @WGAwest and the Council of the @WGAeast, acting upon the authority granted to them by their memberships, have voted unanimously to call a strike, effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.”
“The decision was made following six weeks of negotiating with @Netflix, @Amazon, @Apple, @Disney, @wbd, @NBCUniversal, @Paramountplus and @Sony under the umbrella of the AMPTP.”
“Though our Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.”
“Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon. #WGAStrong #WGAStrike“
Went dark
Late-night comedy shows went dark on Tuesday.
The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live are expected to air reruns instead of new material.
There is a precedent for this strike. In 2007, the WGA took industrial action, with a key issue in the negotiations being royalties from DVD sales.The 2007/08 season strike lasted for 100 days.
The writers guild has in fact gone on strike on five other previous occasions: in 1960, in 1973, in 1981, in 1985 and in 1988.
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