Writers Guild Strike 2023

Goatface

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2023 Pattern of Demands​

COMPENSATION AND RESIDUALS​

  • Increase minimum compensation significantly to address the devaluation of writing in all areas of television, new media and features
  • Standardize compensation and residual terms for features whether released theatrically or on streaming
  • Address the abuses of mini-rooms
  • Ensure appropriate television series writing compensation throughout entire process of pre-production, production and post-production
  • Expand span protections to cover all television writers
  • Apply MBA minimums to comedy-variety programs made for new media
  • Increase residuals for under-compensated reuse markets
  • Restrict uncompensated use of excerpts


PENSION PLAN AND HEALTH FUND​

  • Increase contributions to Pension Plan and Health Fund
  • PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND PROTECTION IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF WRITERS
  • For feature contracts in which compensation falls below a specified threshold, require weekly payment of compensation and a minimum of two steps.
  • Strengthen regulation of options and exclusivity in television writer employment contracts
  • Regulate use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies
  • Enact measures to combat discrimination and harassment and to promote pay equity
  • Revise and expand all arbitrator lists
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main things i gathered
- increase pay from streaming
- increase pay to compensate for shorter seasons
- increase number of writers per show/project
- increase diversity in writing rooms
 
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Juvarisx

Juvarisx

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Found this on reddit, first comment gavve way more insight into it and its damn hard to disagree with the strikers


He also posted this tidbit further in

"Another example: twenty years ago, crews on movies shot with HD cameras made less than crews on movies shot with 35mm film. The reason? HD cameras were considered "video," and videos were generally known to be cheaper, lower quality productions, so the unions allowed the rates to be a little lower on those. Well, guess what? HD cinema cameras became the way of the future, supplanting 35mm film. Did producers start paying crews the 35mm rate? Of course not. They held onto the lower video rates for as long as they could until collective bargaining action forced the change."

Like the fuck is that
 
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OU Ariakas

OU Ariakas

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Guild's are a thing of the past and writers should be hired and compensated individually. Fuck this union shit.

HOWEVER, if private studios let a private union dictate terms at time where writing is objectively worse than it has been since television was colorized then I say let them all burn.

Also, late night TV is a relic of the past and I hope none of those fucking shows survive this strike.
 
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Goatface

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Juvarisx said:
They held onto the lower video rates for as long as they could until collective bargaining action forced the change."

Like the fuck is that
Click to expand...

guess could argue using film in 10 times more work than video.
 
Wombat

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Just a reminder that most of the worst written movies of our lives (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2) were due to the last writer's strike, as the strike also covered rewrites when they ran into problems onset.

Technically, the actors can adlib/ write their own dialogue, so your late night hosts could still do their own bits last time around, but they have more union partners not crossing strike lines this time around.
 
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Juvarisx

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I'd argue Conan was at his best during the last strike. Dude knows how to just keep an audience entertained for an hour. Its too bad we will miss out on him and Bill Burr just sitting there talking for 5 hours a week this go around.
 
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Gravel

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Weird how none of this was addressed during the last strike.

Also, the last one kind of sucked because it really fucked a bunch of good shows. This time, pretty much all TV is absolute dog shit. So I'm not going to lose any sleep if the writers strike forever.
 
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joz123

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Juvarisx said:
I'd argue Conan was at his best during the last strike. Dude knows how to just keep an audience entertained for an hour. Its too bad we will miss out on him and Bill Burr just sitting there talking for 5 hours a week this go around.
Click to expand...
Conan also paid the salaries for all the writers out of his pocket during the strike.
 
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Cybsled

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Writers Strike last time killed some shows, like Terminator
 
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Fadaar

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At least this time there is absolutely NOTHING I care about coming from American television productions
 
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Lasch

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I read the first comment in that reddit thread @ Juvarisx Juvarisx
What is compelling in it for you? I personally don't care if they are paid less, especially in a world with AI that can pump out better material faster.
 
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Fucker

Fucker

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OU Ariakas said:
Guild's are a thing of the past and writers should be hired and compensated individually. Fuck this union shit.

HOWEVER, if private studios let a private union dictate terms at time where writing is objectively worse than it has been since television was colorized then I say let them all burn.

Also, late night TV is a relic of the past and I hope none of those fucking shows survive this strike.
Click to expand...
I'm normally anti-union, but not in Hollywood. Studios fuck everyone they can at every turn. Contract disputes can take years to sort out, and that's if you can afford lawyers in the first place. Without a union, the people who can't afford lawyers on their own is nearly everyone on the set.
 
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YttriumF

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WGA on Strike

From the union announcement:

"Your WGA Negotiating Committee spent the last six weeks negotiating with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)." -WGA

"From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a "day rate" in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership." -WGA

Interesting that AI is explicitly mentioned.



Union position and argument:

WRITERS ARE NOT KEEPING UP
 
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