Studios and streamers plan to reportedly break the Writer’s Guild of America by holding off on reaching an agreement until at least October. The new report from Deadline revealed that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) plans on letting the WGA bleed out.
“I think we’re in for a long strike, and they’re going to let it bleed out,” an industry insider who is privy to talks from the CEOs said.
The WGA kickstarted their strike on May 2 this year and is now on its 72nd day striking against the AMPTP in hopes of reaching a fair deal.
Night-time talk shows immediately shut down in the first week of the strike, starting May 2. Due to the fact that these shows are written daily, there was no way for them to continue. Additionally, many scripted shows are now on pause. Titles like “Severance,” “Night Court,” and “Hacks” have stopped production. Even movies are feeling the heat. Marvel’s “Blade,” starring Mahershala Ali, shut down production just a month before it was set to start filming.
No Road Ahead
Deadline released its report approximately 30 hours before the actors union, The Screen Actor’s Guild and America Federation of Television and Radio (SAG-AFTRA), was gearing up to announce its decision to join WGA in a strike against the AMPTP. As it is now, however, whether SAG-AFTRA reaches a deal with AMPTP, the group hasn’t indicated an interest in returning to the negotiation table with the WGA. As a high-ranking producer revealed to Deadline: “Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention.”
According to Deadline’s report, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and Paramount are banking on the positive message they received from Wall Street to go ahead with their deferment plan for the WGA. And as one executive shared with the WGA, “It’s been agreed to for months, even before the WGA went out. Nobody wanted a strike, but everybody knew this was make or break.”
Effects of The Strike On Black Female Writers
Black women writers such as Brittani Nichols have been on the picket line since day one while also speaking out about the issue. Nichols has also recently been nominated for an Emmy for her work on Abbot Elementary. In a note she shared about the moment as well as the latest development on the part of the AMPTP, she wrote,
“When I moved to LA in 2011, I kept a piece of paper in my wallet with a few goals on it,” she wrote in a note she shared about the nomination as well as the latest development on the part of the AMPTP. “One of those goals was to win an Emmy. I lost that wallet but I am now nominated as one of the producers for Abbott Elementary. Because of the ongoing writers’ strike, my ability to enjoy this accomplishment has become more complex than usual.”
Nichols explained that she can’t ignore what writer’s are facing and for that reason she had to make a hard decision when it comes to campaigning for the show,
“I will not be campaigning on the show’s behalf until a fair deal for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA is reached. Thank you to everyone that is congratulating and rooting for the workers that make this show happen. Congrats to us,” she wrote. “We did this together. Let’s continue fighting so that all entertainment workers are fairly compensated for the value we bring to the companies.”