Failed negotiation results in writers strike

The Writers Guild of America, including 11,500 screenwriters, has unionized The Guild announced on May 2, 2023 that they are going on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

They hope to increase screenwriters' wages and royalties and to get rid of minirooms along with other demands.

Vulture magazine describes mini-rooms as “employing two to three writers to work with a showrunner on a short-term basis in advance of the production of a TV series.”

Writers want to make sure that a writers’ room is a writers’ room, not a mimiroom They want heir pay to reflect that idea.

Now that streaming services are so popular, companies like Amazon and Netflix hesitate to license their shows, losing money for the writers.

Until that changes, the strike is expected to go on for at least three months, which may affect the Emmy season. Since many companies have a stockpile of TV shows, the effect may not grow severe for several months.

However, the strike will affect several dayto-day TV shows, such as late night shows which almost immediately went dark after the strike started. Since they require new scripts constantly, there is no way for them to continue airing.

So far, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and other talk shows have gone dark.

Saturday Night Live additionally halted its 48th season, along with the shows Hacks, Stranger Things, Yellowjackets, Abbott Elementary and Cobra Kai. Those shows and more have all postponed production.

“Writing does not stop when filming begins,” tweeted the Duffer Brothers, who have halted production of the Netflix show Stranger Things in support of the strike. “While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work.”

Along with the writers, many celebrities have spoken out. Drew Barrymore opted out of hosting the MTV Movie and TV

Awards, Jay Leno brought donuts to the protesters, and Seth Myers announced his support on the last night of his talk show.

“I feel very strongly that what the writers are asking for is not unreasonable,” he said. The last writers’ strike took place from 2007 to 2008, a time in which many shows and movies were affected. Overall, it cost the California economy around two billion dollars due to the loss of production.

Although streaming services don’t want to lose money, many have stockpiled months of content. They likely plan to use that for as long as possible to avoid dealing with the strike. For now, nobody is sure what the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will do.