This time around, screenwriters are demanding higher salaries and a bigger share of the profits from on-demand content distribution over the internet. on your side, studios and platforms say they need to cut costs due to economic pressures.
Screenwriters say they struggle to make a living with salaries that are stagnant or devalued by inflation, while their employers profit and raise the salaries of their executives.
They estimate that there have never been so many writers working for the minimum wage set by the unions, while television networks hire fewer people to write ever shorter series.
One of the main disagreements is about how scriptwriters are paid for series broadcast by streaming platforms, which in spaces like Netflix tend to remain visible for years.
How is the salary of the scriptwriters determined?
For decades, writers have been paid “residual royalties” for the reuse of their works, a percentage of studio revenue for the movie or show, or a flat fee each time an episode is played.
But with streaming, writers get a fixed annual payment, even if their work finds success with shows like “Bridgerton” or “Stranger Things,” with hundreds of millions of viewers.
aftermath of the strike
If prolonged, the strike could delay the production of series and films. The late-night talk shows of Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Myers and Stephen Colbert should be the first victims of this first union shutdown in fifteen years.
“What’s at stake here is that live streaming has changed everything,” said Danny Strong, an Emmy-winning screenwriter who joined the protest in New York.