The Writers Strike Is On, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts About It
Worst-of-the-Week News Right Here
I’ve been refraining from posting about the long-simmering feud between the Writers Guild of America (an umbrella term for the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West) and hundreds of film and television production companies and studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers because it’s always seemed like an eleventh-hour resolution might be possible.
Any hopes of a settlement emerging were dashed into the ground on Sunday night, however, after the disputing parties failed miserably to reach any kind of mutual understanding, let alone agreement. The last writers strike occurred in 1988, lasted 22 weeks, cost the U.S. entertainment industry an estimated half billion dollars, and wreaked havoc on the fall television season.
According to Variety, discussions between the WGA West and the AMPTP came to a final end Sunday night at 9:30pm PST, “after more than 10 hours of last-ditch negotiations, only a few hours before the official start of the strike by the WGA at 12:01 am PST.” That relatively late break-off of talks was too little too late for members of the WGA East, who didn’t bother to wait and started striking in New York at 12:01am EST.
This morning, numerous picket lines will arise in strategic locations on the East and West coasts, targeting the companies and networks that the WGA believes is treating union members unfairly. The WGA is taking this disastrous outcome very seriously, requiring its 12,000 members to spend a minimum of twenty hours each week on the picket lines.
The Issue
The WGA wants union members to receive a larger share of royalties from DVD sales and other new media products, including online video streaming and iTunes sales. The relevant contract is dozens of years old and inadequate for the current reality of rapidly advancing new media and how American consumers purchase and use entertainment.
The Fallout
- Film lovers and moviegoers will experience the least adverse effect since movie studios often film over a year in advance and many have intentionally acquired extra scripts in case of this event.
- Talk shows will be affected first since they rely on recent and topical material for their live daily broadcasts and don’t typically shoot in advance.
- Daytime soap operas will feel the pinch next since they usually film only a week in advance.
- Primetime series are safe for the near future because episodes are filmed weeks in advance and some series have already completed additional scripts in anticipation of the strike. Yet, come February sweeps next year, fresh episodes will begin running out for most shows, except midseason entries like Lost and Jericho, which won’t begin airing what they already have in the can until after 2008 arrives. Look for lots and lots of repeats, unscripted reality shows, and repurposed programming at that point. If you’re like me, you’ll have plenty of free time to finally catch up on recordings and purchased DVD sets from seasons past.
The Details
- More information: Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
- More information: Writers Guild of America, East
- More information: Writers Guild of America, West
Late Show with David Letterman photo courtesy of micawave
