Hollywood can hit that play button as the Writers Guild of America and the management from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have come together to reach an agreement.
In the early morning on May 2 just minutes after the guild previous contract expired, both sides came to an agreement on a 15% increase in Pay tv residuals, $15 million in increases in High-Budget SVOD residuals, and, for the first time ever, residuals for comedy-variety writers in Pay TV.
The guild will also now receive job protection on Parental Leave.
“I think they made a very good deal. I think the membership is going to be very happy, “said
Patric Verrone, former WGA president and member of the negotiation committee.
The Writers guild of America is the writers’ “union” of Hollywood that encompasses the entirety of all writers in media.
The averted strike stemmed from issues writers face in the way of compensation.
When talking in the matter of television writers, writers are paid per episode, a system that has been in place for a while.
However, shows nowadays take longer to produce and while that makes for better television, it’s also changes how many episodes actually get made.
In the past the norm was a season having 22 episodes, while today television shows having 10 to 13 episode seasons have become commonplace. That coupled with exclusivity deals made it quite difficult to make up the pay difference.
Had the strike taken place anything from Late night shows like ‘Saturday Night Live’ to upcoming movie projects, would of be effected immediately and most likely being taken of the air.
A similar strike occurred during the span of four months from November 2007 to February 2008. Many shows and movies were impacted during this particular strike, notably “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.”
“‘Transformers’ was famously one that was horrible,” said Adriana Brogger of the Radio/Television Department at Delta College.
Brogger provided insight regarding the previous strike.
She said an upward of $200 million was lost during that four-month period.
Brogger expressed the importance of writers.
“Writer it’s their ideas, it’s there discussions when you look at how their writing sessions happen these are people who just get together and just talk things out, it’s really a creative process.”
Students here at Delta have voiced their relief over the averted Writer’s Guild Strike.
“Yea I’m pretty happy because I’ve been waiting months for the new season of ‘the Ranch’ and I didn’t want to wait any longer.” said Delta student Sarah Jones.