It has been nearly three years since Hollywood writers went on a historic strike that lasted 148 days and ushered in an extraordinary period of labor unrest that virtually shut down the film and TV business.
Now, writers are poised to commence another round of bargaining with the major studios on a new three-year film and TV contract. Few observers think the union is girding for another showdown, especially at a time when many of its members are struggling to find work amid media consolidation and belt-tightening.
But in advance of negotiations that begin on Monday , union leaders are eager to dispel any perception that they might have scaled back their demands.
โOur members have shown many times that theyโre willing to fight for what we need as a collective group,โ WGA West President Michele Mulroney said in an interview. โAnd thereโs no exception here.โ
With its current contract expiring on May 1, the WGA hopes to improve its membersโ healthcare plans, increase streaming residuals and expand AI protections.
Michele Mulroney speaks as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) join GLAAD in releasing the 11TH Annual GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza Los Angeles LGBT Center in Los Angeles, California, on September 14, 2023.
(Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images)
Ellen Stutzman, the unionโs executive director, said despite popular belief, the studios have weathered the transition from cable television to streaming โvery well,โ citing their efforts to maximize revenue with streaming bundling, rising subscription fees and advertising revenue.
โWriters are watching as Netflix and Paramount are fighting it out to acquire Warner Bros… Paramount is spending $81 billion,โ said Stutzman. โThereโs money for a fair deal for writers.โ
The union leaders agree that this yearโs negotiations are all focused on the sustainability of a writerโs career.
A spokesperson from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major studios in negotiations, said in a statement that they look forward โto engaging in a constructive and collaborative bargaining process with the WGA. Through continued good-faith dialogue, we are confident we can reach balanced solutions that support talented writers while sustaining the long-term success and stability of our industry and its workforce.โ
A top priority for the WGA is to increase the caps that companies contribute to the unionโs healthcare plan. Union officials say the current cap has remain unchanged for two decades as healthcare contributions have steadily declined due to fewer writers working.
AI is also top of mind for the WGA.
In 2023, the guild secured various AI protections by establishing that AI isnโt a writer and nothing it produces is considered literary material.
But as major studios start to make deals with AI companies, like Disneyโs $1 billion investment into OpenAIโs Sora platform, many writers are concerned about how their work could be used.
โAI is using [studiosโ] IP, which is stuff that we wrote to license these models,โ said John August, the co-host of the โScriptnotesโ podcast and WGAโs negotiating committee co-chair. โWith the Sora deal, it seems clear that the companies intend to monetize this IP for use with AI.โ
August says the union will be skeptical toward arguments that itโs still too early to seek more safeguards around such a nascent industry, citing the unionโs past history with the rise of DVDs and the internet and how profoundly those technologies changed the compensation for writers.
โIf youโre taking the work that we created to generate AI outputs, we are owed money. Theyโre using our work to do something down the road,โ added August.
WGAโs negotiating committee also is looking to boost streaming residuals, expand the minimum number of people allowed in a writersโ room and add protections for scribes working on pilots.
โWe very much hope that lessons were learned in 2023 and that the AMPTP will come to the table ready to take our proposal seriously and to make a fair deal, and to do that quickly,โ Mulroney said. โIt provides stability for the companies and for our membership. Itโs better for everybody.โ
WGA is entering contract negotiations nearly a month after the actorsโ union, SAG-AFTRA, began its bargaining sessions. Last week,
the AMPTP said it was extending negotiations another seven days.