Posts tagged Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
Opinions | The WGA strike is part of a recurring pattern when technology changes
May 31, 2023 // Once again, writers and other workers in Hollywood are facing technological change, this time regarding the use of artificial intelligence in projects covered by the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). The WGA has proposed that any MBA material be produced by a person, with writing credits to a human, and that no AI be used in the production of literary material for a film. The goal is to secure the jobs and pay of writers, with both initial minimum payments during production and residuals for back-end exhibition. The WGA, which has stronger residuals security and higher payments with studios than with streamers, is looking for closer parity, especially with streaming’s rise in popularity since the coronavirus pandemic. Could AI help script a sitcom? Some striking writers fear so. In a recent example of where the agreements have fallen short, Netflix forced the WGA into arbitration by withholding residuals, ultimately owing $64 million in backdated payments while still refusing to shell out $13.5 million in interest.
Predawn Picket Lines Help Writers Disrupt Studio Productions
May 30, 2023 // But production shutdowns are affecting not only the studios. Crews and other workers — like drivers, set designers, caterers — lose paychecks. And if the shutdowns accumulate and more people are unable to work, some wonder whether the writers will begin to erode the current good will from other workers. Lindsay Dougherty is the lead organizer of Local 399, the Teamsters’ Los Angeles division, which represents more than 6,000 movie workers, from the truck drivers the writers are trying to turn away to casting directors, location managers and animal trainers. A second-generation Teamster, Ms. Dougherty is one of the union’s few female leaders. Her copious tattoos, including one of the former Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, and her frequently profane speech have made her a bit of a celebrity to the writers during the strike. And she said the solidarity with the writers remained strong. “I think collectively, we’re all on the same page in that streaming has dramatically changed the industry,” Ms. Dougherty said in an interview. “And these tech companies that we’re bargaining with, during the last writers’ strike — Amazon, Apple, Netflix — they weren’t even part of the conversation.”
Writers Guild Issues Rules for Potential Strike: Writing, Pitching and Negotiating for Work Are Barred
April 27, 2023 // Writers are instructed to “inform the Guild of the name of any writer you have reason to believe is engaged in scab writing or other strikebreaking activity.” Writers are obligated to picket as assigned unless they have an accepted medical exception, personal circumstance or other employment. Writers Guild Issues Rules for Potential Strike: Writing, Pitching and Negotiating for Work Are Barred
Strike Authorization Vote Now Underway at Writers Guild, With Current Contract Due to Expire May 1
April 13, 2023 // “The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face,” the WGAW wrote in a recent tweet. “WGA members must demonstrate our willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote… Over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions. We are asking to restore writer pay & conditions to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.” Some of the Board and Council’s demands include increased residuals for reuse markets, the reduction of “mini writers rooms” that greatly diminish the size of TV writing staffs, increased contributions to pension plans and health funds, and standardized compensation and residual terms for features released either theatrically or via streaming. In addition: enacted measures to combat discrimination and harassment and promote pay equity, and a strengthened regulation of options and exclusivity in television writer employment contracts.
Writers Guild Calls a Strike Authorization Vote
April 4, 2023 // “The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face. WGA members must demonstrate our willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote,” the Writers Guild of America West explained in a statement shared to social media on Monday. In keeping with the guild’s messaging in this round of talks that the stakes are existential for writers, the union further alleged that “the survival of our profession is at stake” because “over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions.”