“Hollywood Screenwriters’ Strike: Impact on Film and TV Production”

The Writers Guild of America (the Guild of American authors), heiress of the Screen Writers Guild, launched a strike action on Monday. Bringing together the vast majority of Hollywood screenwriters, it is a staple of the US entertainment industry. For a good script, it is necessary to go through one of its members – and it is therefore through it that the majority of discussions between production companies or studios and screenwriters pass. For the first time in 15 years, the guild has launched a general strike because it was unable to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood studios and producers.

In question, the way in which the industry is turning more and more to streaming. One of the Guild’s majority complaints is that while the budget for series increases, that of screenwriters stagnates or even decreases. Streaming studios revolve around smaller groups of writers and on irregular schedules, effectively driving down pay without necessarily affecting working time. Other considerations are added to it – in particular the precariousness of these trades and their capacity to collapse overnight.

Concretely, the impact of the strike is already being felt. Part of the Late Show (for which Guild members write humorous scripts on a day-to-day basis) has already gone on hiatus until the strike ends. As for series and films, the consequences will be more diffuse – and will probably only emerge once the strike is over.
In the immediate future, series whose scripts are finished can continue production – without the benefit of last-minute rewrites, which are a natural step in the filming process. It is likely that a void will form in the 2024 release schedules, with some films releasing later, depending on the duration of the strike. In the immediate term, no screenwriter who is a member of the Guild can write, edit or submit a script until the movement has been officially completed.

The situation is still relatively new, and this is Hollywood’s first strike in the age of streaming: it’s still hard to determine how it will evolve, but the strike is one to watch. In the immediate future, both sides are planning a long-term blockage.