WGA Strike of 2023

[rogueslayer452]

The Writer's Guild of America are on strike.

I wish this wasn't happening, I wish studios and streaming services would treat their writers with common decency and respect and pay them fairly as they rightfully deserve, but it seems that the system has always been against writers and anyone within those fields that they view as an afterthought or can exploit (see: how VFX workers are mistreated and disregarded in the entertainment industry).

I remember the 2007-2008 WGA Strike. I remember how long and drawn-out it was, and yeah many shows got royally screwed over in the process of this, seasons shortened and delayed or outright cancelled. Some shows that did survive also didn't recover from that damage, either. I have no doubt that this will happen again if the strike goes on long enough. While I haven't really watched much Western television for some time, that doesn't mean this isn't important or that other things won't be affected outside of that. Hearing about what streaming services have been doing to shows because they don't want to pay residuals, flat out cancelling things left and right even when they were renewed or in the middle of production, and just removing them entirely from their services as if they never existed to begin with, plus a lot more that's going on behind-the-scenes, this is something worth paying attention to and supporting the WGA. Times may be different in the world of entertainment, but the issues still remain the same, and perhaps even worse due to the environment has shifted within the industry because things are different and TPTB can find unfortunate loopholes. Something needs to change, and this is why unions exist. As much as it shouldn't be necessary to exist, I support them, wholeheartedly.

Neil Gaiman posted what the WGA proposed during negotiations, to give a better insight of what is being fairly asked and why they are on strike for.

Comments

[silverusagi]

I hope the corporations pony up. They shouldn't get to make millions off the backs of the people who make the shows and then screw them over.

But sucks all around from a creative perspective, and from how many others in the industry will be affected as some productions grind to a halt.

[rogueslayer452]

And what they're asking for is not unreasonable at all, and yet these studios/corporations act like it is. Ugh.

[author_by_night]

Yeah, the 2007 strike is also, I believe, why we ended up with so many reality TV shows. Stations began clamoring. Don't get me wrong, reality TV was a thing for decades before, but for a while every other show was a reality one, and they'd be things like Addicted to Eating Shoes. We still have those shows, but it seems to me there's been more of a balance lately. So... yeah. I worry this will have the effects you mentioned, plus maybe a dearth in scripted television.

American media is a mess now anyway. I read somewhere that there's a reason you're getting more movies and shows that are basically just reboots and adaptations. I don't think that's why they're striking, based on your link it's mostly about financial negotiations - which is fair, obviously. I'm just saying, there are a lot of issues. :/

I agree that it shouldn't be so hard to just pay writers fairly. I'm very much for the writers. Especially the ones who aren't big names, which frankly, there are more of.

ETA: Speaking of reality TV shows, I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. Though I do think the "strange addictions WTF" ones were pretty insensitive, and that might also be why they're less common, we've had better discussions about mental health and realize laughing at people for profit is... problematic at best. Although apparently Hoarders is still going strong, so... and on the reverse end, you still have the Kardashians, but I don't think "everyone lives together" shows like Big Brother or Jersey Shore are still around.

[rogueslayer452]

There were a lot of really, uh, interesting reality shows being produced during that time, that's for sure. Some ridiculous and stupid, others borderline insensitive or just straight up offensive in their concepts and executions. They tried everything underneath the sun they could get away with, because reality shows are cheaper to produce, require little talent, and although we know that the mass majority of them are scripted one way or another required no writers.

What's funny is that most reality shows these days are so overproduced they just look as fake and fabricated as they actually are, which is wild when you consider the way older reality shows were back in the day.

but I don't think "everyone lives together" shows like Big Brother or Jersey Shore are still around.

There's been an attempt with that in recent years involving influencers, mostly from TikTok, living in one big house and creating online content together I guess for the younger generation on streaming services, but those prove to have shorter lifespans than the television counterparts from years ago.

If there is another reality show boom during this time, I wouldn't be surprised if they went in this direction by going towards influencers, since I think influencers are the online equivalent to reality shows in many, many ways.

[pianogurl330]

I hope the studios and streaming services pay up and give the writers what they deserve to pay them fairly and treat them with respect! I support them too!

I remember the 200-08 one and how many of my favorite shows either got cancelled (Pushing Daisies RIP) or suffered. :(

[rogueslayer452]

Witnessing the 2007-2008 strike firsthand as it was happening was an interesting time. It made me more aware of things and what was at stake, how writers were, essentially, among the backbone of the entertainment industry and without them studios didn't have anything left to stand on. It's a damn shame that they still haven't learned that lesson from that last time.

[facethestrange]

I can't believe this is still not resolved (by paying the gorram writers) - for some reason I thought it would be much, much shorter than in 2007 because the people in power would remember how much that sucked for everyone in the end. Apparently not?

[rogueslayer452]

You'd think, huh? But sadly, that is not reality. Most of them view writers as expendable, and that their proposals are unreasonable and how they actually blame the writer's for holding things back. It's ridiculous and ludicrous, but then again, the entire industry is, and everyone suffers because of it. *sighs*