On May 2nd, 2023, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) Union went on strike to protest poor pay and living conditions that they, as TV and Film writers, are suffering from. Last week, the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined them with grievances of their own. It is crucial to stand with these union members as they fight for the compensation which they deserve.
While coverage of TV and movies at Write Through the Night will continue throughout the strike as of now, we wholeheartedly support the writers and actors not working from this point forward and will listen to whatever the union requests of us as critics.
Below is a brief guide to why the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are striking, and what you can do to support them over the coming months.
Why is the WGA Striking?
The WGA went on strike primarily because of poor pay conditions. With the advent of streaming, writers no longer receive residuals on shows that go on streaming services. That means that, for example, writers on Abbott Elementary will only receive payment for the number of viewers who watch on ABC. If the show receives millions of views on Hulu (which it does) or another streaming platform, the writers will not see any compensation for that.
This means that even writers on hit shows can struggle to make ends meet, and all the while producers are getting richer. Producers and Hollywood executives love the streaming model as is, because it means they can hire writers for a small one-time cost while they reap the benefits for years to come. This pay inequity if a fundamentally exploitative model that relies on the creativity of writers to make rich people richer.
Producers believe they can use artificial intelligence to replace writers in the near future, but what they fail to realize is that AI in and of itself is inherently capitalizing on the work of others. To make AI work, you must train it on already existing shows and films. This means that the writer’s work is being used to train the model. Not to mention, if any of you have asked ChatGPT or another AI to write a TV show script for you, it’s just not very good. AI cannot replace creativity, and it’s important that Hollywood doesn’t think it can.
Why is SAG striking?
Similarly to WGA, SAG is striking because of unfair pay. It’s easy to consider this ridiculous, because when we think of actors we only consider the top 1%—the celebrities who make millions per movie and don’t have any real financial concerns. In reality, the vast majority of SAG-AFTRA members are smaller actors whose names you’ve likely never heard. This includes background actors, people who never receive lines, and struggling artists who rely on union healthcare to pay their bills.
One of the most damning parts of the (now rejected) contract presented to SAG-AFTRA involved the use of AI. Producers think they can replace actors with AI just like they want to do with the writers. To do this, they proposed scanning the likeness of a background actor for one day’s worth of pay. This computer image could then be used indefinitely in whatever scene they needed background actors for. This means that someone’s picture could be used in places they wouldn’t have approved of had they been physically on-set, and it also means that they won’t be getting work.
If actors don’t have work, they don’t get paid. If they don’t get paid a minimum $26,000 in a year, they don’t get healthcare, meaning this could literally be deadly.
SAG is striking in protest of these conditions, and standing with WGA in their requests for fair and liveable wages.
How Can I Support?
Hollywood executives are relying on public outcry to force WGA and SAG back to work before they get their demands met. The strike means that no scripted TV shows will be written or filmed for the foreseeable future, and the people in charge want the general public to be mad about that. If they are, it could cause the unions to settle for a worse deal. That means it’s of the utmost importance to stand in solidarity with the unions, and proclaim your support loudly. Your favorite TV show’s production being pushed back is a minimal inconvenience compared to people who aren’t getting paid a living wage.
Other ways that you can more actively support the WGA and SAG:
- Boost the demands of guilds online
- Join the picket lines
- Sign the pledge of solidarity
- NEVER cross a picket line—this means obeying all requests that come out of WGA and SAG in the weeks to come
- If you are a freelancer or editor, check out the Freelance Solidarity Project and be sure to add a statement of support to all articles that you publish during this time.
