adminLOS ANGELES. – Thousands of film and TV writers headed to the picket lines yesterday to fight for pay increases and other benefits — forcing all four of the major late-night shows to halt production.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced that its 11,500 screenwriter members in California, New York and other cities will refuse to work after the union and studios failed to agree on a new three-year contract after their current one expired just after midnight.
As a result, Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” have all been shut down.
The board of directors at WGA, who voted unanimously to call for Hollywood’s first strike in 15 years, claimed that the leading companies have made it difficult for writers to hold down a steady job.
“The companies’ behaviour has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing,” the WGA said in a statement.
“From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession,” the labour union continued.
On the opposite side of the table, the trade association representing the major studios and production companies, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), said it offered writers “generous increases in compensation … as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”
The alliance, which bargains on behalf of the major players, said it was open to improving its offer “but was unwilling to do so because the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon.”
An overwhelming majority of writers represented by WGA voted to authorise a strike, with 98% in support and just 2% against.
The last time Hollywood writers went on strike in 2007, the work stoppage lasted 100 days and its effects reverberated beyond the movie and TV business. – New York Post
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