the writers stop. Films and TV-series blocked – Corriere.it

At midnight on Tuesday May 2, Hollywood goes on strike. A rather rare event (but not the first) that risks blocking hundreds of productions… a bit as if football were to stop in Italy. The strike was proclaimed by the film and television writers union (the Writers Guild of America – WGA), which has more than 11,000 members.

The unions’ decision comes after the failure of negotiations with the studios and streaming producers who would not have accepted the salary adjustments and royalties requested. So no agreement was reached. The AFP news agency writes that the first consequences of the strike could be the interruption of night shows and the delay of films and TV series coming out within the year. Board members of the Writers Guild of America tweeted that, acting on the authority granted to them by their members, they unanimously voted to call a strike.

An online survey was carried out among WGA members asking for authorization to strike against production and distribution companies. 9,218 members voted, 78% of the total, and 9,020 said yes. 98 percent of screenwriters are therefore in favor of stopping their activities, blocking films and TV series. A new record both for voter turnout and for the percentage of consent, writes the WGA on its website, recalling that this undeniable demonstration of unity and determination gives strength to the trade union committee that contracts with the Studios. The poll was taken on April 18. There were two weeks before the expiry of the three-year contract in the category. The threat was clear: if the agreement is not reached by May 1, the first strike in 15 years will break out in Hollywood. And so it was. From a survey among WGA members, it appears that half of them receive the minimum wage (while ten years ago they earned only 33%) and that the average salary fell by 23%, considering inflation

A statement from the union leadership states that even if we have expressed our intention to make a fair agreement, the responses of the studios to our proposals have been completely insufficient, given the crisis the writers are facing. They closed the door on their workforce and opened it to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated. A tough fight on important issues and the magical world of Hollywood not exempt from problems related to the world of work in other sectors.

The last time the negotiations fell through was in 2007. Then the Hollywood writers shut down everything for 100 days, causing the Los Angeles entertainment industry an estimated $2 billion in losses. This time the clash arose because the authors are demanding higher pay and a larger share of the profits from the streaming boom. The studios say they need to cut costs due to the economic crisis.