Screenwriters in the United States are fed up with the dangers that threaten their sector and cause them an “existential crisis.” Behind Hollywood’s glamorous festive appearances, film and television writers are suffering from major problems that prompted them to raise their voices and move in protest, and to enter into a general strike that may threaten the industry and the emergence of new productions. New.
“The studios seek to make our work a group of small jobs,” says Sarah Fisher, who is participating in a protest in front of the “Warner Brothers” company.
After 10 years, during which she worked as an assistant on prominent series, including “Agents of Silence” produced by “Marvel”, the thirty-year-old was accepted as a member of the American Writers Guild, which represents 11,500 screenwriters in the sector, and called for a strike that Hollywood had not seen in 15 years.
Fisher is not the only one facing a similar situation in the sector. The model adopted by television, with series consisting of about 20 episodes per season, allowing people to work for a long period of time during the year, was negatively affected after the emergence of streaming platforms, most notably Netflix.
The seasons of the series broadcasted by these platforms consist of only six to 10 episodes, which means less work, at a time when the number of writing teams is decreasing and gaining experience is a challenge.
“A number of my friends finished writing successful series and started working as Uber drivers to make ends meet,” Fisher says.
The scriptwriting profession has always faced challenges because Hollywood productions are not continuous, but today it is no longer a “viable profession,” according to Brittany Nichols, 34.
The co-writer of the “Abbot Almentary” series denounces the change in the sums added to the salaries of screenwriters for each time a job offer from their writing is returned.
Nichols says that the financial protection that allows screenwriters to continue during periods when they are not working has all but disappeared. After 10 years in the field, it’s a pittance to get paid to re-present a work she wrote on a streaming platform.
“These amounts are almost worthless,” she says. “I can hardly buy a slice of pizza with them.” “All the series that I co-wrote, the creators would hire me for six, eight or 10 weeks,” she says.
The minimum wage for a screenwriter, the lowest position, is still $4,500 per week. However, many screenwriters interviewed by AFP are unable to work for more than a few weeks a year. They all point to the hidden costs of their profession, and that between what they pay a lawyer and their taxes, half of their salary is gone.
With the advent of streaming platforms, the profession has become precarious. Figures from the Writers Guild of America show that about half of screenwriters in the television field received in 2022 the minimum set by the union, while in 2014 a quarter of them received similar wages.
Even screenwriters with great experience are affected by the situation. And some of them, like Adam Bava, consider that what is happening is an indication of Hollywood sinking in exchange for the culture of Silicon Valley, where Netflix and Uber were founded.
