3 Challenges To Overcome In The Writers’ Strike:

The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) summarized to its members the open issues in negotiations which led to the inevitable strike call in May. The disparity between what striking writers are asking for and what their adversary (a.k.a. struck employers known as the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP) are offering is significant and the parties are very far apart from reaching any kind of deal.

As we approach the end of the first month of the strike, here are some things to keep in mind about the challenges and reasons for the fight:

This Is About The Unprotected Low Paid Writer

In 2021, there were 142,800 jobs for writers and authors with the median pay at $69,510 per year and $33.42 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A lot of the open issues are about protecting the writers who are trying to make a livable wage.

The WGA proposed minimum wage (also referred to as scale compensation) increases at five percent to six percent with the AMPTP offering two percent to four percent in return. While the numbers do not seem to have a significant gap, this is out of touch with the reality of current inflation and what most employers consider even on a customary annual raise basis when considering standardized cost of living increases. These percentage of increases are not for the high stature writer but rather for the vast majority of writers who aspire to work and live in the entertainment industry. Typically, these writers find it difficult to rely on steady employment in their endeavors unless pay increases parallel inflation levels.

How Can You Pay Residuals From Proprietary Streamer Info?

The WGA effectively demanded that streamers ‘open their kimono’ and pay additional residuals based on viewership via their respective platforms, as well as improved residuals for high budget AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) television. This got a resounding rejection from the AMPTP and no counterproposal whatsoever. Why? Since their inception streamers have remained tight-lipped on their data of viewership, engagement and the actual value of a piece of content on their service, taking the position that such data has and always will be proprietary in nature.

Additionally, Wall Street has recently begun to react skittishly about the measurement of subscriber numbers as the sole factor in valuing the success or failure of a streaming service. The issue is the AMPTP is struggling to convey a measurable formula to show ‘success’ on a streaming platform that is economically sound and also one that they will want to live with as a groundbreaking way of measuring residuals.

On the other hand, this is a universal issue for all talent that has reached a boiling point in Hollywood. Talent is expected to show up for work on a fixed fee with no transparency or measurable bonus in ‘success.’ For a while, streamers lured talent with rates and fees much higher than the traditional market price, and as a result the conversation with respect to contingent and other forms of compensation was muted for years. Now that streamers are contracting their budgets and their offers, talent are demanding and pushing for a greater risk/reward—the WGA is leading this charge as a key issue of the strike.

The Scope Of Engagement Needs To Be Modernized To How Content Is Ordered Today

Duration of employment is also another ‘every person’ issue, and not really a concern for the top one percent writer who lives in the Hollywood Hills. Writers are looking for minimum terms of employment on television engagements, 10 weeks of consecutive work and protections post staff writing rooms. The cycle of how television shows are being made has been disrupted, and shows are now greenlit year-round with varying orders from a network (often with smaller orders of four to six episodes). Employers at the AMPTP have been wanting their cake and eating it too; they engage writers for a smaller guaranteed duration but insist that writers are exclusive or first-priority to them beyond guaranteed work periods. This structure effectively prohibits writers from being free on the market to secure alternative employment during these gray windows. Basically, writers are at the mercy of their employer without a solid guaranty of employment.

With inconsistent engagement for most writers, the protection of a minimum work period is essential to the WGA for their members to make an honest living. Streamers and networks are going to have to find a solution to ensure that there is economic stability. Securing guaranteed work periods could put a writer who is below the poverty line with one engagement per year into a position where they can afford a nice condo in the valley with two to three engagements per year at a guaranteed reasonable minimum.

These are the significant issues concerning talent engagement, some of which are unique to writers. Where does the compromise lie? The AMPTP will need to sacrifice transparency and sound practices in a way that takes into account inflation and the cost of living. On the other hand, the WGA will need to accept that writers (particularly those working at scale, outside of enjoying an improved base minimum) will need to be educated and empowered to utilize their respective agency and legal representation in order to improve their economic situation and work rules on a case-by-case basis.

These feel like aspirational compromises on both ends at this point in the strike, but as time passes and the entertainment industry suffers millions (if not billions) in lost production and shutdowns, the pathway to a compromise will hopefully emerge. Some say this process may last well into the fall; while we all hope for earlier, my money is on September 2023.

View this article at Forbes.