The Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike for fair pay and protection from artificial intelligence on May 2, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. PDT, and after a tentative agreement was reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the strike ended on September 27, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. PDT. This event affects Union’s present and future as consumers and as people hoping to go into the industry.
“This was just a really critical time for the industry and the future of the industry to get equitable sharing of the money and the resources in the entertainment industry,” Kacee Enzor Farmer, a Union communications alumna and current WGA member, said, “so that we can keep going and entertainment is well done for years to come. ”
The rise of streaming services played a huge role in the strike. Farmer explained that WGA members’ contracts were still based on live TV models and theatrical releases, so when residuals came in for streaming they were not fairly distributed. This is because streaming was still being considered as “new media.”
“You were paid a flat rate whether you were writing for ‘Ted Lasso’ or you were writing for some show no one really watches,” Farmer said.
Another medium on the rise was also a focal concern of the strike: artificial intelligence. Though Farmer said there is space for AI to be utilized by creatives, she emphasized that there also have to be protections for writers so that they do not get replaced by AI.
“The reason we want to work is we want to make really good things and the AMPTP doesn’t care as much about making something good as they care about making something fast,” Caleb Shore, another former Union communications student and current member of The Screen Actors Guild (SAG), said.
The WGA strike became linked with SAG when they also went on strike on July 14, 2023. Though the WGA strike was first, SAG members picketed alongside WGA, and WGA members are still picketing alongside SAG, who is still on strike.
Shore and Farmer emphasized the importance of SAG and WGA standing together in solidarity during this time and said that it was a real advantage to have these strikes happening back to back.
“Because if you think about it too with the timing, WGA went first but obviously writers work ahead so a lot of stuff was written that can still go forward,” Farmer said, “but as soon as SAG joined and had their own strike, that really shut things down.”
Because writing takes time and consumers will already be experiencing a lull, Farmer and Shore believe that the AMPTP will not waste much more time with the SAG strike either.
“They don’t want to miss another season,” Farmer said.
Though consumers will experience a lower concentration of media coming out, there are some brighter outcomes that the strike will bring.
“I think a big thing consumer-wise that is a real positive coming out of this is once these deals are done, based on what I think will happen, quality of work is one of the big things we’re protecting,” Shore said. “I think consumers, viewers, can look forward to really really good things being made.”
Union Film Society president and senior film studies major Andrew Bos kept up with the strike. He thinks it is important for people hoping to go into the industry to keep up with things like the WGA strike.
Bos was also disheartened by the strike.
“It’s just like you kinda see where companies lie at the moment,” Bos said. “It is a little scary to look at because you’re like ‘I don’t know if I want to go into this.’”
For those going into the industry, there is hope there. The WGA strike was a tipping point where the industry was struggling but now a new foundation has been laid.
“It was a little bit like a life preserver for people looking to stay in this industry and get into it because it’s building blocks that we’re gonna look forward from,” Farmer said.
Farmer expressed that the significant increase in pay and benefits is encouraging for those wanting to go into the industry.
“Because everyone wants to be able to pay their bills,” Farmer said. “And if they’re able to do that doing something they’re passionate about and love, then that’s really the goal.”
