Why Hollywood’s Writers and Actors Are Striking
Screen Actors Guild members walk the picket line in solidarity with striking Writers Guild of America members outside Netflix offices in Los Angeles on July 13.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesA months-long strike in Hollywood has ended, after the governing boards of the Writers Guild of America approved a new contract with Hollywood studios in late September. The Screen Actors Guild, which joined the writers on strike in July, remain on the picket lines, however, which will continue to affect production of movies and TV series. The last time both writers and actors staged simultaneous walkouts was in 1960 when they were pushing to get revenue for films that aired on TV. This time the impact of streaming services and the potential job-stealing threat from artificial intelligence were key issues.
They got a boost in their minimum wages of 5% in the first year of the three-year deal. Writers of shows that become a hit — reaching at least 20% of domestic viewers in their first 90 days — on a streaming service will get bonus payments, another first. A minimum of at least three writers working for 10 weeks will be employed on shows, something the union had been pushing for. And the studios have assured writers that screenplays will be credited to a human being, and the writers won’t be replaced by artificial intelligence. Union members will now vote on the new contract, with balloting scheduled to end Oct. 9.