Writers Strike Talks Fail! Get ready for more reality shows!

[BeastieRunner]

Didn't we learn last time that the vast majority of reality shows were scripted because of the strike?

[Malvolio]

This strike is mostly due to streaming. Too many shows with too many writers, so the studios have an excuse not to pay them more. What will end up happening is writers will get paid more, but there will be fewer jobs available for writers.

[The PhantomDreamlander]

I hope this dispute has a good ending to it there were some cartoons i am really looking forward to and to hear this does bum me out but i do hope for the better.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I hope the writers come out on top. Meanwhile, I have plenty of anime and sports to fall back on.

[thwhtGuardian]

This strike is mostly due to streaming. Too many shows with too many writers, so the studios have an excuse not to pay them more. What will end up happening is writers will get paid more, but there will be fewer jobs available for writers.

That's the sticking point for one of their contract "wants" they want more jobs on the table. I don't know how realistic an ask it is but I get the push for it.

[Gaastra]

Strike is also about ai scripts and full jobs so writers can pay bills! The bear writer spills the beans that he is one of the biggest writers in hollywood. Lives in an apartment and hard to pay for food and lost his electricity having to pawn stuff to turn it back on!

They put writers on "freelance" and put them in long hours but don't pay them anything for those hours and can drop them in a second. They wanted that stopped and are asking for better pay (actors can make millions but you can't pay your writers?), regular hours among other things.

Producers were so against it they didn't even counter the deal and ignored it! This may take awile!

Kris talks about it here.

[Gaastra]

[useridgoeshere]

Writers are definitely undervalued in Hollywood’s star-driven culture. I’ve been more disappointed in movies/TV with bad writing than bad acting. However, the economics of streaming content was bound to crash, so the fact that it has isn’t surprising.

I read a good summation (I can’t remember where) on why there won’t be a quick settlement and how the streaming services are going to use this to get out of bad deals. Their expectation was this lasts for months at least.

[Captain Craig]

Their expectation was this lasts for months at least.

So for the duration of summer, get a late start back to the grind in time for FALL shows to debut only a little late perhaps?

[krazijoe]

Well it doesn't help when your TV season Streaming is 8-12 episodes which means you have to get 2-3 gigs just to equal 1 Broadcast gig

[Totoro Man]

because streaming services are relatively new, I bet a lot of producers believed that they could get away with more than the usual amount of shenanigans. they know that the average viewer doesn't really care about writers.... and probably figured that they could get away with murder.

I'm not denying that Hollywood is a vicious and exploitative industry. I think everybody should probably already know that.

I want to support the writers... but I'm reminded of art school.

one of my favorite college professors explained that (because she didn't have tenure) she had SEVEN part time jobs and worked seven days a week. she said that most of her jobs would only last two-to-eight weeks. she would get paid per the assignment. she also pointed out that she never stopped looking for new work. her part-time teaching gig and two theater jobs formed the backbone of her income.

she said that this is the reality for a lot of people who work in creative industries. she said, "you love you work... but the trade-off is that you never stop working and don't have any benefits."

she was a real stickler for homework deadlines. when one of the young dudes complained "why do we even bother with homework?" she explained "homework is to prove that you can listen to instructions, follow them, and meet deadlines. because when you have a job people expect you to deliver the goods on time. if you don't, they refuse to pay you. they might even take you to court for wasting their time. so, turn your homework in on time or you fail. I do this to prepare my students for real working conditions."

I really respected her... and I felt like I learned more in that one class than I did in many of my other courses. but it also convinced me that I would probably be safer working a regular job and doing the creative stuff on the side!

(well, that and reading about the struggles of Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. learning about Disney's grim moniker of "Mauschwitz" also discouraged my childhood dreams of being an animator as well)

honestly, I feel like a lot of these writers probably had unrealistic expectations of the profession.

[Username taken]

Writers are definitely undervalued in Hollywood’s star-driven culture. I’ve been more disappointed in movies/TV with bad writing than bad acting. However, the economics of streaming content was bound to crash, so the fact that it has isn’t surprising.

I read a good summation (I can’t remember where) on why there won’t be a quick settlement and how the streaming services are going to use this to get out of bad deals. Their expectation was this lasts for months at least.

Yeah, I think writers broadly speaking are undervalued in Hollywood.

It's pretty weird because a lot of ideas (good and bad) come straight from the writers. They are arguably the backbone of the creative process.

[Kirby101]

honestly, I feel like a lot of these writers probably had unrealistic expectations of the profession.

I think a lot of these writers expect to get paid for their work and royalties are part of the pay. When the Studios move to new media, they ALWAYS try to squeeze the writers out, as their revenues increase, they want to pay everybody less. The writers are asking for the same piece of the pie they always got, no matter the format. That is not unrealistic. Thankfully they have a Union to protect them, unless most workers in this country.

[Reviresco]

Like most jobs in the US, it's the pay inequity that really makes things intolerable, as well as all the obscene profits these studios are making off low wage creative workers. Like why can't these CEOs take a pay cut?

[Immortal Weapon]

Disney's legal department sent a letter to showrunners demanding they continue their non-writing duties even if they are fined by the WGA.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...ga-1235480879/

HBO Max sent a letter to their showrunners saying they are not obligated to pay their salaries if fail to provide their services and production gets interrupted due to the strike
https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/...ALtJSBqIQ&s=19