by Alexis Booker ‘23

Shows like Gossip Girl and iCarly shaped the late childhood and early teen years of many young people today. Though the shows had a lot of success, they originally set out to turn out differently, with many more episodes to air. But prior to the airing of their seasons, the 2007 Writers’ Strike occurred, leaving many of these shows cutting their originally planned seasons to a few episodes. Writers insisted on being given higher wages and rights, speaking out against the numerous issues of treatment in the Hollywood industry. This echoes events occurring in Hollywood today that could cause a possible writer’s strike later this year.

Controversy around the wages, rights, and economic mobility of TV and movie writers, combined with an uncertain economy, caused The Writers’ Strike of 2007. It lasted 100 days and caused stagnancy for many popular shows of the time. The strike resulted in a contract between the Writers Guild of America (WGA), a labor union for film writers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the supermajority of Hollywood studio productions. Contract renewals now should take place annually but haven’t in the last two years due to Covid-19. Similar conditions in the industry and another fragile economy today could cause a strike if the AMPTP and the WGA cannot come to an agreement.

The AMPTP now has until May 1 to create an amiable contract expanding on the minimum basic agreement between themselves and the WGA East and West unions. The minimum basic agreement is a bargaining agreement intended to protect the rights of the WGA members. The head negotiators of the WGA intend on being strict with the goals of the organization like offering hands-on opportunities for low-tier writers to gain experience along with better benefits, rights, and wages to keep up with growing inflation and be appropriately compensated. The writers through their union also want to focus on the excess of overtime and ‘‘free work’’ in which writers have to do extra hours without pay. Negotiators are aware companies have the means to support these higher benefits though have low hopes they will be open to agreements.

With the popularity of streaming platforms, Hollywood executives need to settle on a film production strategy to compete with big brands such as Netflix or HBO Max. The trend of mini rooms (small groups of writers for streaming shows) also creates a more cutthroat environment that executives can utilize to cut wage costs and improve their bottom lines. To prepare for a possible strike, executive producers have lined up scripts in advance before the May 1 deadline in case writers walk away from their projects.
Screenwriters have faced many difficulties in a new age of small writers’ rooms and overworking. The success of these streaming platforms ripples into Hollywood, causing executives to want to replicate their success. WGA plans to maintain its position despite being aware of how little the AMPTP is likely to cave to all the demands on the writers’ behalf. Due to this fact, a repeat of the 2007 Strike is likely. It is unclear how prepared companies are to manage without writers for film, though it is likely to delay many anticipated releases.