Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike news 2 2

[Bosco685]

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Patrick Meighan, a longtime writer-producer on Fox’s “Family Guy,” has a short answer for how studios can absorb the costs of the WGA’s staffing proposals — namely, start by trimming at the top of the studio pyramid.

 

“How can you afford to pay [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO] David Zaslav $245 million in a single year but you can’t pay six writers?” says Meighan, referring to Zaslav’s stock grant-inflated pay package for 2021. “How is it that you used to be able to pay 12 writers on a staff when the show was on broadcast TV. But now that it’s streaming, six is some ridiculous number? I don’t think the math adds up.”

 

The WGA wants a minimum TV staff size based on the number of episodes in a season. For a show with six episodes, the minimum would be six writers. After that, companies would have to add one writer for every two additional episodes, up to 18 episodes and 12 writers. Above that, the minimum would stay at 12 writers. For any series below six, it would be one writer per episode. The studios see this proposal as a nonstarter. Here’s how the mandate would work for the most recent season of some top shows.

[theCapraAegagrus]

CEOs get seemingly overpaid because the pool of good ones is so ridiculously small. (I won't get into actual salary vs options, don't care.) Right now, the pool of good writers is really small. The problem (IMO) is that you're striking on behalf of all writers and not just the good ones...

[Bosco685]

 

[CAHokie]

This doesn’t look like it will end soon. The two sides aren’t even meeting.

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

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Drescher, who chairs the guild’s negotiating committee, is returning to L.A. from Italy tomorrow, just in time for the last two days of negotiations for the guild’s film and TV contract that expires Wednesday at midnight PT.

 

Responding to press inquiries, SAG-AFTRA said: “President Drescher is working as a brand ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana on location in Italy. This was a commitment fully known to the negotiating committee. She has been in negotiations every day either in person or via videoconference. President Drescher is managing a physically demanding schedule across three time zones, overseeing negotiations and working on location daily as well as managing her parents’ needs in Florida. She is returning to the states and will be on the ground in LA tomorrow and will continue to chair our negotiations.”

Drescher has been out of town since she flew to New York on June 29 to appear on Good Morning America, when she said that the two sides had been making headway “in some areas” at the bargaining table “and in some areas we’re not.”

 

[TupennyConan]

I'd be happy to negotiate with Fran.  

[theCapraAegagrus]

Oh, I had Fran mixed up with Chandler's annoying ex on Friends my whole life.

[Bosco685]

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Last minute calls are being made by Hollywood chiefs to try and prevent an actors strike.

 

Deadline understands that Endeavor boss Ari Emanuel and CAA chief Bryan Lourd made an offer to help find a pathway to a deal between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP. Emanuel contacted SAG-AFTRA leadership last week to prevent a total shutdown if the actors join the writers on strike, and Lourd made similar calls.

 

“This wasn’t just about stopping a strike, it was about finding a way forward for everybody” a source close to events told Deadline.

 

[Bosco685]

 

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

Actors generally put in good work, so I'd 'support' that strike, though I think that the top earners really get too much (kudos to their agents, I guess).

[Bosco685]

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Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months.

 

“I think we’re in for a long strike, and they’re going to let it bleed out,” said one industry veteran intimate with the POV of studio CEOs.

 

With the scribes’ strike now finishing its 71st day and the actors’ union just 30 hours from a possible labor action of its own, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are planning to dig in hard this fall before even entertaining the idea of more talks with the WGA, I’ve learned. “Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention,” says a top-tier producer close to the Carol Lombardini-run AMPTP.

 

[Cman429]

A human has to be on set to say the lines. A human has to be on set to direct how the human says the lines. A computer can write 90% of the lines they’re both using. That’s why writers are the most disposable part of the process and the sooner they realize that the better. 

[Mr Sneeze]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:19 AM, Cman429 said:

A human has to be on set to say the lines. A human has to be on set to direct how the human says the lines. A computer can write 90% of the lines they’re both using. That’s why writers are the most disposable part of the process and the sooner they realize that the better. 

Is it wrong for me to wish you watching 90% computer generated writing from here on out. 

[Axelrod]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:03 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Actors generally put in good work, so I'd 'support' that strike, though I think that the top earners really get too much (kudos to their agents, I guess).

Not unlike athletes in that regard.  The counter is, well, who should be getting the money?  The corporations/owners?  I think most people would say not.  

The real answer is, yes, they are seriously overpaid and we, the plebs, pay for it in every single thing we buy.  Not even just the price of tickets.  What would be really great is if some of these overpaid people weren't so overpaid and everyone's hamburger cost $.05 less.  But that can't happen because free market and socialism or something.  

I don't know enough about the Writer's strike to weigh in on whether their demands are actually unreasonable or not.  

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 7/12/2023 at 1:20 PM, Axelrod said:

Not unlike athletes in that regard.  The counter is, well, who should be getting the money?  The corporations/owners?  I think most people would say not.

I think that there's a lot of underappreciated creatives in the industry. VFX has been suffering because not enough time/money is invested in that process, for example. Justice League got rushed because executives wanted year-end bonuses; So those signing the checks clearly don't have their priorities straight with where the money goes.

[drotto]

This is going to be a long and damaging one if true.  Shows and movies are going to start drying up very soon when it comes to new content.  This article reporting that the studios plan on breaking the writers by making them go broke. 

 

https://deadline.com/2023/07/writers-strike-hollywood-studios-deal-fight-wga-actors-1235434335/

[drotto]

On 7/11/2023 at 7:15 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Oh, I had Fran mixed up with Chandler's annoying ex on Friends my whole life.

Similar idea, but overall better design and execution. She basically to all her own negative and/or stereotypical qualities and amplified them into a successful career. 

[drotto]

On 7/12/2023 at 12:22 PM, Mr Sneeze said:

Is it wrong for me to wish you watching 90% computer generated writing from here on out. 

Unfortunately,  AI is better at writing then many of the current writers are. While I support people getting paid fairly, I do not like the mandates on how many writers must be hired based on number of episodes,  and length of episodes.  This artificially setting for writer's room sizes that is not based on quality ultimately damages the product. Looking back, most of my favorite shows and movies have smaller writers rooms, which seems to lead to a more focused, and usually high quality product.

[Bosco685]

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Contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke off tonight, and the guild’s national board will meet Thursday morning to formally approve the launch of a strike.

 

It will be the first actors strike against the film and television industry since 1980 and the first time that actors and writers have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild. Picketing is set to begin Friday morning.

 

After more than four weeks of bargaining, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — the entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. Discovery — remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on the key issues that are essential to SAG-AFTRA members. 

 

In the face of the AMPTP’s intransigence and delay tactics, SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend to the National Board a strike of the Producers-SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming Contracts which expired July 12, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. PT. 

 

SAG-AFTRA’s National Board will vote Thursday morning on whether to strike.