With Studios And Streamers Meeting WGA On Friday, SAG President Fran Drescher Says 'It's About Time'

The Writers Guild of America (WGA), now three months into a strike, says the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has reached out to start talking again this Friday.

The WGA told its members on Tuesday night, “We’ll be back in communication with you sometime after the meeting with further information. As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors. Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us,” the writers union added.

The WGA said it had no further comment at this time.

In an interview with LAist’s Jackie Fortier on Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher responded to the news.

“Good... it’s about time,” Drescher said, adding that the studios and streamers had yet to reach out to SAG-AFTRA for talks of their own.

“All is quiet,” Drescher said.

Asked how it would affect SAG-AFTRA if the Writers Guild reaches a deal with the AMPTP and ends their strike, Drescher said: "I think it would encourage us to think that they're really willing to meet us at a point that's realistic to our members".

"I mean, the Writers Guild, they're no pushovers. So if they walk away with a deal, you better believe that they were met at least halfway if not further."

An AMPTP spokesperson told LAist in a statement: “We remain committed to finding a path to mutually beneficial deals with both unions.”

Different tone

Rebecca Keegan, Sr. Film Editor for the Hollywood Reporter told LAist that we may see a different tone at the negotiating table since the contract talks came to a halt in May.

“For one thing, the actors going out on strike has helped the writers, from a leverage standpoint,” Keegan said. “The last time these parties were in a room together, studios were still able to shoot, to cast, to have actors come in to record dialogue for something they might need in post -- that’s not happening anymore,” Keegan added.

She also pointed out that the strikes are continuing to cost a lot of money.

“The WGA’s estimate in May was that their strike alone was costing about $30 million a day, that was of course before the actors joined. We know there’s been enormous economic pressure, particularly here in Southern California where so many businesses are related to the strike and are related to the entertainment industry,” Keegan said.

No scripted TV series

According to FilmLA, the film office serving the greater L.A. area, weekly permits for feature films and television projects for the week of July 30 was down by roughly 55% (153 in 2023 vs. 338 in 2022).

The not-for-profit film office added that reality TV projects as well as non-union independent productions would show up in that permit count.

To put things in context, FilmLA said: “in a normal week at this time of year, there would be dozens of scripted television projects in production. By contrast, we have no scripted TV series with permits to film this week.”

Timeline: SAG-AFTRA strike

Some things to note: This is the first SAG strike since 1980. The 1960 strike, which took place while the WGA was also striking, was led by Ronald Reagan, then the president of SAG. Current events:

• May 17: Union leaders ask for and receive a strike authorization vote ahead of contract talks.
• June 7: SAG-AFTRA begins negotiations with the AMPTP; contract due to end June 30.
• June 30: Both sides agree to extend talks through July 12.
• July 12: A federal negotiator is brought in.
• July 13: The national board of SAG-AFTRA authorizes its 160,000 members to go on strike.
• July 14: Picketing begins at 9 a.m. at major studios and streamer HQs across the city.
  

Timeline: WGA strike

Some things to note: It is the first WGA strike in 15 years. The last work stoppage began in November 2007 and lasted 100 days. Current events:

• April 18: 98% of WGA members vote to go on strike if the contract talks fail.
• May 1: WGA contract expires with no agreement between sides.
• May 2: WGA strike begins.
• August 1: The WGA says the AMPTP asks to start talking about negotiations.

The issue: Actors

Minimum earnings: SAG is asking for an 11% general wage increase to reflect inflation. The AMPTP is countering with 5%.

Share of revenue: Actors feel they haven’t received their fair share of revenue from hit streaming shows.

• Traditionally compensation has been linked to ratings. Streamers like Netflix, however, don’t release how many people watch their shows, so it’s difficult to know which ones are major hits. SAG-AFTRA proposed bringing in a third-party company to measure ratings and devise residuals. The AMPTP rejected this. 
• Executives at studios and streamers maintain they’re still recovering from pandemic losses and have spent billions of dollars creating and buying content for new streaming platforms, some of which are far from profitable.
• While some streamers are thriving (Netflix recently reported $1.71 billion of quarterly operating income), The Walt Disney Co. has announced the firing of 7000 employees to save money, having lost close to $10 billion to date on its streaming platforms. Warner Bros. Discovery is making deep cuts because of its $50 billion in debt. 

Artificial intelligence: There is deep concern about how artificial intelligence will be used, with particular anxiety about the use of a performer’s image and likeness. The union wants to prevent studios from training AI programs on actors’ work without permission, and for actors to consent and be paid if AI is used to replicate them. The AMPTP offered what it called a groundbreaking proposal that it said “protects performers’ digital likenesses." The union rejected this.

Self-taped auditions: Since the pandemic, self-produced audition tapes have become the norm — meaning actors light and film themselves. It’s labor intensive, with no pay, and widens an already competitive pool of performers. The union says it understands self-taped auditions can be useful, but wants to put restrictions around them.

• Read SAG-AFTRA’s summary of negotiation points 
• And what the AMPTP has to say about the negotiations

The issues: Writers

Maintaining a liveable wage: The WGA says that companies’ business practices have “slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions," and that the current contract terms failed to anticipate the explosive growth of streaming.

• It says that most of its nearly 12,000 members are making less than they once did, and that after factoring for inflation, average WGA pay has actually dropped 14% over the last five years. 
• Meanwhile the AMPTP says it’s offering the highest first-year general wage increase in more than 25 years, while also offering to create "an entirely new category of rates that will establish a new and higher floor for mid-level writers’ compensation”.

"Gig economy": The union says shorter schedules and small writers room means writers have to cobble together jobs, similar to the gig economy. The AMPTP says screenwriting has almost nothing in common with standard "gig" jobs. Writers often have a guarantee of specific weeks or episodes, and writing jobs come with benefits such as employer-paid health care and pension plan contributions.

Staffing and duration of employment: The union wants a minimum number of weeks on a project, and a certain number of writers. The AMPTP sees this essentially as a hiring quota that's "incompatible with the creative nature of our industry", and says it's a one-size-fits-all solution to shows that are each unique.

Artificial intelligence: Writers want to make sure that AI isn’t used to replace their creative output. Meanwhile the AMPTP says "AI raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone. For example, writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can't be copyrighted. So it's something that requires a lot more discussion, which we've committed to doing."

• Read the full WGA statement
• Hollywood producers released a statement on May 4 that addressed specific points of the WGA's concerns. 

Why it matters

What you’ll be watching: 

• Ahead of the WGA contract’s expiration, studios and streamers stockpiled scripts so they would have content to produce if there were a strike. But now the actors are on strike, even that content cannot be filmed, and some productions have been cancelled mid-shoot. Expect game shows, talk shows, docu-series and reality shows in the fall (which are covered under different contracts).

• Companies like Netflix release series in multiple languages, however, so their production schedules often run many months ahead of traditional TV networks, which means they tend to have a bigger shelf of completed shows.

• Movies have a fairly long lead time, so almost all of the movies due to come out through the end of the year have already finished filming. Movies that were slated to begin production soon and come out next year or later are being pushed back, like Gladiator 2 and Deadpool 3.

The local economy:

For the 2007 - 2008 writers strike, the Milken Institute estimated the resulting economic losses were $2.1 billion, along with a net loss of 37,700 jobs directly and indirectly tied to the entertainment industry.

Those 2007-2008 losses worked out to about $20 million a day, or close to $30 million in today’s dollars. But the number of scripted series and streaming movies has grown exponentially since then.

The financial and job loss estimate includes not only lost pay for screenwriters, but also for people who work in production, and businesses that either cater to or depend on production: everything from costume and prop rental companies to caterers and equipment rental outfits.

Learn more

• ‘People Are Hurting’ — How The Hollywood Strikes Are Affecting Small Businesses In LA
• TV And Movie Writers Strike Over 'Gig Economy' Conditions. What’s At Stake In The WGA Walkout
• From Gas Stations to Restaurants: How The WGA Strike Will Hit The LA Economy
• This Hollywood Writers Strike Could Have Massive Economic Impact. An Economist Explains What We Can Learn From 2007
• How The WGA Strike Of 2007 Strike Brought Donald Trump To Power
• A History Of Strikes: How The WGA Has Played Catch-Up As Emerging Technologies Made Others Richer

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