The news that the Writers Guild of America is currently on strike might be confusing to the casual TV watcher. After all, there’s more TV than ever, thanks to the explosion of streaming platforms. (The supposed “limit” of peak TV is a staggering 599 scripted series in 2022.) And besides, the people who get to write Succession or Yellowjackets have exciting, creative jobs, right? What could they possibly have to complain about?
It turns out, a lot. The people who make TV and movies aren’t just creatives and artists realizing their childhood dreams; they’re also people who get up every day and go to work at their highly demanding, exceedingly precarious jobs. And like many other jobs across the country, it’s getting harder and harder to make a living as a writer—even for people who are getting work.
Over the past few days, thousands of WGA writers have been out on picket lines in California and New York, chanting outside of studios and waving signs with slogans like “Can’t Netflix And Chill When Writers Have Bills” and “What Would Larry David Do??”
Writers and other workers standing in solidarity have even blocked production on sets. It seems like everyone involved in the fight is digging their heels in for an extended battle. But what are they fighting over, exactly?
Aren’t Hollywood Writers Paid Super Well?
Sort of! Like any creative field, there are a few people who make a lot of money as screenwriters. But that level of lucrative stardom is functionally a lottery. Consider acting: For every Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, or Chris Pine, there are a thousand other successful talented Chrises who get work but still struggle to make ends meet. Even someone like Sydney Sweeney, a rising star with HBO paychecks, still struggles with money.
In large part, that’s because writers—as well as actors, directors, and everyone else—are getting paid far less in residuals than some of those A-list names. Residuals refer to money paid to people who worked on a piece of media when it gets repackaged, resold, or re-aired. That’s why syndication used to be such a big deal: getting to the point where your show was being aired on TBS or Comedy Central meant that you were sharing in the profits and success of the show, and getting guaranteed, repeated checks for years. The system set in place that ensured creatives this level of sharing in the profits from their work was decades in the making.
But that level of financial security has largely evaporated. Streaming services pay single, fixed residuals that aren’t tied to viewer numbers, and there’s no additional payment that comes when shows shuffle between different streaming services. (As an example, writer Valentina Garza recently shared residual checks for writing two episodes of Jane The Virgin… for literally one and two cents.) 97.85% of writers who participated in the WGA authorization vote voted to strike, in part to ensure that working on a streaming service pays out in a manner closer to traditional TV, and closer to the way previous generations of writers, directors, and actors fought for years to achieve.
What Makes Streaming Different?
The last time the WGA went on strike was in 2007, when streaming was a nascent technology . It was a major point of contention in negotiations, because every time distribution technology changes, writers have had to strike to make sure they’re fairly compensated. The very first WGA strike in 1960 resulted in writers getting a share of profits when a movie was aired on TV, while a 1973 strike focused in part on the emerging market of cable. The 1980s saw fights over home video.
Eric Thurm
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