Why Are Hollywood Writers Going On Strike? Comprehensive Reasons

Why are Hollywood writers going on strike? More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have gone on strike, causing Hollywood to be in a state of disarray. This strike comes at a time when the entertainment industry is struggling to adjust to the seismic shifts brought on by the global surge in streaming TV services.

#1. Why Are Hollywood Writers Going On Strike?

Source: CNBC

The writers assert that as a result of streaming services, they are required to put in more work for a lower pay rate. When their works are popular, screenwriters working in the cinema, television, and streaming industries want to be compensated more and receive additional residual advantages.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called for its first work stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement with major corporations such as Walt Disney and Netflix about improved compensation. The association serves as a representative for around 11,500 authors in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. Picketing is set to begin on Tuesday afternoon, according to an announcement made by the WGA West.

Comprehensive Reasons Of The Strike

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is a trade organisation that currently represents the main studios and producers in the industry and is now in the process of negotiating a contract with the unions that they belong to. On Monday, it made the "generous increases in compensation" announcement to writers, but discussions failed to progress. In today's economy, the media business is also facing significant challenges.

Wall Street is putting pressure on multinational companies to make their streaming services profitable after the companies spent billions of dollars on content to win subscribers.

The number of people watching conventional television has been decreasing, which has led advertisers to seek new opportunities elsewhere in reaction to the expansion of online video streaming services. This has resulted in a decline in the amount of money earned from advertisements on traditional television. Even though it has the largest economy in the world, the United States is also in risk of entering a recession.

#2. What Do People Talk About The Strike?

According to the alliance, the producers were keen to enhance their offers of greater remuneration and residuals; but, they were "unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the Guild continues to insist upon."

The proposals that "would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not," were emphasized as the primary cause of dispute by those present at the meeting. On the other hand, the replies from the studios to the WGA's recommendations "have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis that writers are facing," the WGA claimed. Writers have felt the financial impacts of the surge in streaming television in a number of different ways, two of which being shorter seasons and smaller residual payouts.

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According to figures provided by the WGA, the proportion of TV series writers earning less than the federal minimum wage has grown to fifty percent, up from thirty-three percent during the 2013–14 season. The median compensation for authors working at the senior writer/producer level has decreased by four percent over the course of the previous decade. The last WGA strike in California in 2007 and 2008 was projected to have lost the state's economy a total of $2.1 billion. This was due to the fact that productions were suspended and unemployed writers, performers, and producers restricted their spending.

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