Writer's Guild Going on Strike

Tom Roper said:
$72.99 + tax for the YouTubeTV base plan. What's in your wallet?
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Mostly expired grocery coupons and old parking garage claim tickets

We have movement!

Hollywood studios, writers near agreement to end strike, hope to finalize deal Thursday, sources say
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https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/21/holl...urces-say.html

This is the most positive headline I've seen this whole strike

Then they would just need to strike a deal with sag-aftra

If the strike ends Thursday, I'll sit through bill maher's first opening monologue in gratitude
 
Ha, ha. Just saw my nephew (who used to work for me as a PA in Rhode Island when he was in college) interviewed on the LA picket lines tonight on ABC News. Small world. For his sake, I hope the strike is settled soon.

And then my wife spotted one of my stock footage shots in a Chevron commercial on This Week With George Stephanopoulos. The neighbor's have no idea their dog has earned me over $8K . . . so far. But she does get plenty of Oreos and ham slices from me! Good dog.
 
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Looks like a tentative deal has been reached between AMPTP and WGA. It's a Yom Kippur miracle!

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/writers-strike-ends-wga-amptp-deal-2-1235733452/

They can't release the specific details yet but union leadership seems happy. It sort of seems to me that it's like the phony deal AMPTP offered in August but with the loopholes closed. They've settled on minimum writer staffing for episodic shows. And there's supposedly a schedule of bonus residuals for high-performing material.
 
So after the SAG/AFTRA strike is settled, what happens? If streamers (besides Netflix), were losing money, what affect will the raises, residual, and staffing increases have on production? Will they continue to produce at the same rate and hope to outlast the other streamers or lower the quality of productions or just produce less?
 
aram said:
This Scriptnotes episode has a decent summary of the main points of the agreement. Overall, they won big (no surprise), but they made some concessions I was surprised about. https://johnaugust.com/2023/sidecast-whats-in-the-deal
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What do you consider the big win? Looks more like the expected incremental items from any bargaining negotiation. The viewership based streaming residuals sets a high standard for minimum viewership (20% of subscribers viewership in the first 90 days) in order to earn the bonus, applying mainly to those working at the "top," I would assume to be a small percentage of the rank and file. The tentative agreement has an estimated value a little more than half of what WGA had sought on 5/1, which causes one to wonder if they had been more realistic in their "ask."
 
Paul F said:
So after the SAG/AFTRA strike is settled, what happens? If streamers (besides Netflix), were losing money, what affect will the raises, residual, and staffing increases have on production? Will they continue to produce at the same rate and hope to outlast the other streamers or lower the quality of productions or just produce less?
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Before the strike there was a trend towards less production. Everyone in industry was assuming that it was in anticipation of a strike, but I genuinely believe that we have gone past so called peak TV. It was a genuine bubble that wasn't sustainable and that bubble has burst. Then the strike gave the studios and streamers a chance to consolidate and slash costs.

Shows have been cancelled that would have gotten a pass before. Budgets will be reduced. There will be less shows being made.

Disney just cancelled a 100 million dollar + show that was already shot, was in post but they haven't even screened yet, something that was kind of unheard of, but this isn't the only example
https://deadline.com/2023/08/nautilu...al-1235529143/

Some may recall the Batgirl movie was also cancelled. Seems nuts to shelve a 90 million dollar movie right?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ed-1235191932/

In 2022 there were 499 scripted shows made for the US market. Compared to 2012 when there were only 288.

This is from an an article that was posted well BEFORE the strike.

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/pea...22-1235487593/

Many crew have been hurt by the strike. I know many who have lost health insurance, who've lost their homes and have left the industry. I think there was a hope that the tap would be turned back on and everyone would be back at 110% but that's just not going to happen. There will be an initial catch up surge sure, but then the overall amount of product being manufactured will be down and they will be commissions shows that cost less rather than trying to make marquee shows as loss leaders to attract subscribers.

There will be less shows. They will cost less. Streaming is turning into cable TV with everyone going back to advertising models. At least with ads, they HAVE to measure success to price the advertising and shows may now return to a success based commissioning basis.

Tom Roper said:
What do you consider the big win? Looks more like the expected incremental items from any bargaining negotiation.
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Some cynical talk is that it's pretty much the SAME deal that the DGA did, other than the minimum staffing levels. DGA did their deal before a strike and were pilloried for their supposed lack of solidarity and yet.....
 
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Although I'll never be able to mentally process some of those executive salaries that exist (so unnecessary), you can't really blame the studios either (besides for the aforementioned).

Everyone on the other side wants too much money for their skills for something that really doesn't need it anymore as humans continue to live and entertain themselves.

If I were one of the decision-makers at one of these entities, considering any type of automated process to create programming (writing, visuals, everything) would be on my mind every day.

Someone will eventually create something weird enough that's all fake which beings will fall in love with, and it will once again rattle ideologies.
 
Doug Bee said:
Some cynical talk is that it's pretty much the SAME deal that the DGA did, other than the minimum staffing levels. DGA did their deal before a strike and were pilloried for their supposed lack of solidarity and yet.....
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some good AI stuff

“AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights,” the contract language states.

Per the guild:
  • AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.
  • A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services.
  • The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.
  • The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law.
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https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/w...-ai-writers-room-staffs-residuals-1235736648/

and some other stuff. I think the question we should all be asking is why AMPTP didn't do this deal before things went to a strike. I'm not sure why the criticism is directed at WGA. but I think we all know the answer... as you said, they used it as an opportunity to retool their commitments
 
ahalpert said:
some good AI stuff
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It's very similar to what the DGA got. A director has to be a person.
"Duties performed by DGA members must be assigned to a person and GAI does not constitute a person."
https://www.dga.org/dga/2023Negotiat..._Agreement.pdf



ahalpert said:
I think the question we should all be asking is why AMPTP didn't do this deal before things went to a strike. I'm not sure why the criticism is directed at WGA. but I think we all know the answer... as you said, they used it as an opportunity to retool their commitments
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That's what I was saying. The DGA got a deal done with AMPTP that is materially very similar. They didn't go on strike. The WGA do have slightly different needs and yes they did get minimum staffing which is irrelevant to the DGA contract. But in terms of money they basically got the same deal. AI? Same. Residuals? Very similar. It's very much the same deal on the points were WGA and DGA overlap.

ALSO

In the dga deal that NO ONE HAS NOTICED is that for the first time, episodic TV directors will be paid for post. What typically happens is a director does a few days for their contractual directors cut that they then turn over to the show runner. This has never been PAID. So, many directors would skip doing a cut or phone it in because they would take another show. AND, the show runners often would cut the episode the way they want and never even watch the directors cut.

NOW, what has to happen is the director does their FREE directors cut, and then the show runner has to watch it and give the director NOTES which they then get PAID to integrate and then they hand over their cut. That means

1. Directors are getting paid for two more days than they used to. (hint, a lot more than a 5% increase)
2. Directors have more chance for their cuts to be the ones that go to air and you're educating shorteners on working with directors.
  • First time in DGA history that TV directors are paid for post-production. New rights will enhance Director’s role in post-production and create more collaborative process by Directors incorporating Producer notes into a subsequent cut.
  • The two paid post days plus the additional guaranteed shoot day results in a 28% compensation increase for most one-hour series made for Pay TV or SVOD (from $50,764 to $64,960).
 
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Doug Bee said:
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That's what I was saying. The DGA got a deal done with AMPTP that is materially very similar. They didn't go on strike. The WGA do have slightly different needs and yes they did get minimum staffing which is irrelevant to the DGA contract. But in terms of money they basically got the same deal. AI? Same. Residuals? Very similar. It's very much the same deal on the points were WGA and DGA overlap.
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So do you think WGA held out for too much? Or AMPTP was less cooperative than with DGA? It seems to me that as recently as August AMPTP was offering WGA a crappier deal than this. I also think that AI plays a different role for writers and actors than directors. In other words, there may be greater perceived opportunity to use generative AI for screenwriting and thus studios may have been less willing to negotiate away that right. Directing is basically the piece of the puzzle that everyone expects humans to keep doing. There will be a person operating the AI and telling it what they want.
 
ahalpert said:
So do you think WGA held out for too much? Or AMPTP was less cooperative than with DGA? It seems to me that as recently as August AMPTP was offering WGA a crappier deal than this. .
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I think it's more that the DGA were better and more prepared for some horse trading. The two days of post for episodic directors is a huge financial win AND it increases the creative purview of directors, in my view rightly so.

I know that one of the asks of the WGA was for writers to be employed all the way through post for their episode. Why should the studio pay a writer to be involved in post? The WGA are known for their hardline super militant approach. Look at their bitter dispute with the agents and "packages". Google that one.

It does seem to me that the DGA did a good job and got a deal done without a need for striking. The WGA seemed to get a very similar deal with a lot more pain.
 
Doug Bee said:
1. Directors are getting paid for two more days than they used to. (hint, a lot more than a 5% increase)
2. Directors have more chance for their cuts to be the ones that go to air and you're educating shorteners on working with directors.
  • First time in DGA history that TV directors are paid for post-production. New rights will enhance DirectorâÂÂs role in post-production and create more collaborative process by Directors incorporating Producer notes into a subsequent cut.
  • The two paid post days plus the additional guaranteed shoot day results in a 28% compensation increase for most one-hour series made for Pay TV or SVOD (from $50,764 to $64,960).
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I did miss this, and it is definitely good news for this DGA member (although who the f' knows at this point if I'll ever get to enjoy that). I don't necessarily think this will result in director's cuts being more influential on the final cut though, EP's will surely still railroad right over those as they see fit :)
 
Doug Bee said:
Disney just cancelled a 100 million dollar + show that was already shot, was in post but they haven't even screened yet, something that was kind of unheard of, but this isn't the only example
https://deadline.com/2023/08/nautilu...al-1235529143/

Some may recall the Batgirl movie was also cancelled. Seems nuts to shelve a 90 million dollar movie right?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ed-1235191932/
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Didn’t they just throw the new live action Snow White, that was already shot, in the dungeon, too? Although for slightly different reasons. Namely(reported) fan backlash and bad behavior/attitude of the star.

But it still ultimately comes down to money, because why would they spend all those millions marketing a movie that no one is going to go see?
 
Doug Bee said:
I think it's more that the DGA were better and more prepared for some horse trading. The two days of post for episodic directors is a huge financial win AND it increases the creative purview of directors, in my view rightly so.
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What's your take on the merits of the SAG strike?

Also, what's a shortener? Someone who brings the edit down to the needed air time?
 
ahalpert said:
What's your take on the merits of the SAG strike?

Also, what's a shortener? Someone who brings the edit down to the needed air time?
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Show runner. Typo.

SAG will come to terms. pretty shortly. They will be similar to DGA and Writers. AI is a different threat for them.
 
"The most famous actors have the greatest risk here. The prompts are going to be (or continue to be) “Give me a female character who looks like Jennifer Lawrence & Megan Fox, moves like Meryl Steep in SILKWOOD, dances like Ginger Rogers, with a Penelope Cruz accent,” etc, etc. 4/"

https://twitter.com/JustineBateman/s...jlsB39fBg&s=19

Twitter thread by a sag negotiator

"In #AI, SAG is negotiating for: consent and compensation for both “digital doubles” (where it’s obviously you) and training the AI models. #ConsentAndCompensation"

Some samples of such things are linked here: https://credo23.com/AIINFILM

Some concern here that WPP will become an AI-only company run on NVIDIA architecture. And eventually NVIDIA extinguishes WPP altogether https://twitter.com/JustineBateman/status/1674169956513247232?t=MDPk67umA7jU5tRZXrIIug&s=19
 
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