This post was originally published on this site
Hollywood writers are poised to strike as early as Tuesday morning if a deal is not reached between members of the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
“If there’s no deal tonight at 11:59 p.m., then the WGA is in position to go on strike at 12:01 a.m.,” Deadline Hollywood Senior Editor Dominic Patten told KTLA.
This would be the first WGA strike in more than 10 years with more than 11,000 television and film writers prepped to walk off the job.
“You’re going to see picket signs going up in front of studios, in front of various other offices, as well as you’re going to start seeing a number of shows shut down instantly,” Patten added.
WGA and AMPTP have been in talks for more than a month. If a contract agreement is not reached by midnight, a strike could have a ripple effect on restaurants, parking attendants, dry cleaners and so many other businesses that work closely with film and television studios in Hollywood and beyond.
“They’re concerned about it because some of us over here don’t have a second job,” a valet driver, Dave Sanchez, told KTLA. “So, they’re concerned with where their next check is going to come from after next week.”
Writers are pushing for better base pay and an increase in residual money, saying that half of all writers are currently earning scale – the bare minimum of their contract. They also want higher contributions to their pension plan and health fund. Television and film executives, on the other hand, say they are still recovering from pandemic losses and have put a lot of money into streaming content.
“The studios who have been making billions and billions and billions, they say they can’t do it. ‘We’re cutting jobs, we’re cutting content,’ but of course, a lot of that is to please Wall Street and their stock. These are still very profitable companies,” Patten said.
Viewing audiences will see an almost impact with late-night shows in reruns starting tomorrow if the strike starts tomorrow. If it drags on, scripted shows will be affected, and next season’s network shows could be delayed or canceled.
“This is around the time, May or June, when people start gearing up for the shows that are going to debut in September and October on the networks,” Patten said. “So, they’re suddenly not going to have a pipeline to put anything in.”
Feature films could also be impacted, with many writers scrambling over the past few weeks to get their assignments in before the potential strike. If there’s no agreement by midnight tonight, writers have been told to shut down their computers.
Suggest a Correction
