WGA Strike

We are a month into the writers strike and Hollywood is starting to feel its effects. However executives seem like they are digging in their heels but the WGA is not giving up. And quite frankly the longer it goes on the longer it hurts the studios wallets. Here are a few updates and ways you can support writers as they continue to fight for the future of Hollywood and its creatives.

The WGA has been very open about the things that they are asking for and not only is it all reasonable but most of their starting demands do a lot to fight for the next generation of writers. Streaming has effectively killed writers rooms and as such makes it basically impossible for new writers to get their foot in the door. Writers rooms were once a place for experienced writers to help usher in newer talent and that new talent could contribute ideas and learn how the industry works.

The worst part about reading through this list of demands is that a lot of them went without a counter. Meaning the studios just blatantly ignored the request, with no desire to play ball. How can you reach an agreement with people who aren’t even willing to negotiate?

The writers strike has already shut down some major productions like; Blade, Abbott Elementary, Loot, Severance, Daredevil, Wonder Man, The Last of Us, Euphoria, White Lotus, Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, Yellowjackets and many more. Now I think the Marvel productions that were shut down will get the audience's attention the most. But there are several popular shows that decided to continue with production and therefore you as audience members can expect a decline in quality. Rewrites happen throughout production all the time so choosing to continue through a writers strike means that productions HAVE to film whatever the current draft of the script is. Screenplays are locked under WGA contract which means that they can not be altered by non-WGA writers AND no WGA writer can alter them during a strike. So whatever version of the script that existed before the strike started is what is being filmed right now, with no alterations legally possible. House of the Dragon, Rings of Power and Deadpool 3 are all going to be affected by this. Ryan Reynolds lost all my respect when he decided to push through with Deadpool’s production. He has writing credits on the last two movies which means he is a WGA writer, which also means as an actor in the movie he can not improv any lines. He is bound by the words on the page and Deadpool fans know how much he and they are going to hate that. But he’s actively scabbing right now so I hope the movie sucks.

SAG (The actors union) has also voted to strike. If by the end of this month they vote yes, Hollywood will effectively be without writers and actors. This would not only slow further productions down but bring them to a screeching halt. That said even if no other unions join in there is just no way for studios to win this. In 2008 it was just the writers and they won anyway. Writers are the backbone of Hollywood and there simply is nothing without them. Actors and Directors are necessary for ushering stories into the world but the first thing you need is a story…you don’t have stories without writers. I have one more thing to say, for those of you that think the writers are asking for too much; if you are tired of reboots, remakes, and sequels you can blame executives. They are the ones making those decisions. Executives analyze what has already worked as far as the studios making money, they see what audiences have already enjoyed and they decide that they want to duplicate it. They then hire a writer or writers and because those writers are not making enough money to feed themselves, they accept the job. So that they can eat. The more we pay writers, the more we will get good, original stories because they will have the freedom and stability to write what they want instead of what they need.

Here are different ways you can support WGA writers and the strike.