Hollywood writers go on strike, blaming ‘gig economy’

NEW YORK — Television and film writers declared late Monday that they would launch an industry-wide strike for the first time in 15 years. In the battle for fair wages in the streaming age, Hollywood prepared for a strike that could have far-reaching consequences.

The Writers Guild of America said 11,500 unionized writers will head to the picket line on Tuesday. A new contract could not be reached before the current contract expired. All scripting was immediately halted and the Guild notified its members.

The WGA’s board of directors, including both the Western and Eastern chapters, voted unanimously to call for a strike, which took effect at midnight stroke. The writer is facing an “existential crisis,” they said.

In a statement, the WGA said, “The company’s actions have created a gig economy within union workers, and their steadfastness in this negotiation betrayed their commitment to further devaluing the writing profession.” From refusing to guarantee weekly employment at , to creating a “day rate” at Comedy Variety, to free jobs for screenwriters and sabotage of AI for all writers, they’ve taken their I closed the door to work. Workforce and opened the door to writing as a completely freelance profession. Such a deal was unthinkable with this membership. ”

The Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, a trade group that negotiates on behalf of studios and production companies, said late Monday that negotiations had failed to reach an agreement before the current contract expired. Generous increases in rewards and improvements in streaming residuals.”

In a statement, AMPTP said it was ready to improve its proposal, but “did not want to do so because there are other proposals still on the table that the Guild continues to advocate.”

Labor disputes can have cascading effects on television and film production, depending on how long the strike lasts. But due to the extent of the discord, the closure has been widely predicted for months, with the writers voting overwhelmingly to approve the strike last month, with 98% of members supporting him.

The question is how writers are paid in an industry where streaming has changed the rules of the Hollywood economy. The writer says he’s not getting paid enough, TV his writer’s room has shrunk too much, and the old formulas for how the rest of the bills are paid need to be rebuilt.