HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTIONS PUT ON PAUSE

Ellen von Fortune The Advocate

The U.S. entertainment industry is huge, making an ongoing strike by the writers of television/movie/streaming content so prominent in our society this month.

On May 2, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The union represents 11,500 writers and without them, new shows can’t begin filming, while others are put on pause.

Every three years, the WGA negotiates new contracts for their writers, but this time the negotiations were expected to be long, and be tough. As of Advocate press time (May 11), there is still being reported a big gap between what the writers are asking for and what the studios are willing to offer.

Both sides say that the other needs to make the first move to start talks again, leaving the strike at a standstill.

Writers want to secure improved compensation. Residual pay is a type of royalty on reruns and other showings, and the writers are fighting for more of it, claiming that better pay is critical for middle-class (modestly paid) writers. These content producers have been upended by the streaming industries and claim they should be getting this royalty, since those platforms are where a lot of TV series are being played and then replayed now.