WGA members joined by other unions at meeting in show of solidarity during writers strike
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Bracing for a long battle against major studios as they demand better pay and job security in a rapidly changing industry, thousands of Hollywood writers gathered for a strike meeting with support from others in the industry.
Members of the Writers Guild of America, currently on strike, gathered for the meeting at the Shrine Auditorium Wednesday night and emerged ready for a fight.
"I've been in the guild for I think 23 years now and I've never seen the guild as fired up as they were tonight," said writer and showrunner Jamie Paglia.
The meeting wrapped up the second day of the strike, which has brought the industry to a halt as writers try to get the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), to pay them more in a world where streaming reigns and syndication has gone away.
WGA writers remain concerned about AI, decrease in residuals with studios' new model
Joining the WGA at the meeting were the unions for nearly every worker that participates in making television and movies.
"We had the Teamsters here, we had the labor union, we had IATSE and SAG-AFTRA. This is the tip of the iceberg and if companies think that they can't pay us fairly when they are making so much more profit than they ever have, they're wrong," said writer/producer Hannah Friedman.
The union remains at an impasse with Hollywood studios over a host of labor issues -- most notably, residuals for streaming content, staffing levels in writing rooms and the use of artificial intelligence. The strike is the first by the WGA in 15 years.
The WGA is specifically calling for higher residual pay for streaming programs that have higher viewership, rather than the existing model that pays a standard rate regardless of a show's success.
The union is also calling for industry standards on the number of writers assigned to each show, increases in foreign streaming residuals and regulations preventing the use of artificial intelligence technology to write or rewrite any literary material.
According to the union, its latest contract proposal would net writers roughly $429 million per year, while the studios' latest offer would equate to about $86 million annually.
Studios have pushed back on some union demands, noting that the entire industry is facing budget constraints. The studios also say writers' residuals have increased in recent years, powered largely by amounts earned through "new media."
The AMPTP issued a statement Monday saying, "The AMPTP presented a comprehensive package proposal to the guild last night which included generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.
"The AMPTP also indicated to the WGA that it is prepared to improve that offer, but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon. The primary sticking points are mandatory staffing and duration of employment, guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.
"The AMPTP member companies remain united in their desire to reach a deal that is mutually beneficial to writers and the health and longevity of the industry, and to avoid hardship to the thousands of employees who depend upon the industry for their livelihoods. The AMPTP is willing to engage in discussions with the WGA in an effort to break this logjam."
City News Service contributed to this report.
