Writers on strike
Hollywood screenwriters have been on strike for two months over wages and AI-generated scripts. Here's everything you need to know:
What are the stakes?
The 11,500 film and television writers in the Writers Guild of America have been on strike since the beginning of May, leading many productions to pause and live scripted programs such as late-night talk shows to go off the air. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes studios such as Universal and Paramount and streaming services such as Netflix and Apple, objects to a union demand that shows keep a minimum number of writers on staff for a standard duration, regardless of need. The union also wants to restrict the use of artificial intelligence in creating plots and scripts, painting the dispute as an "existential" crisis in which "the survival of writing as a profession is at stake." Compensation is another big sticking point.
How much do Hollywood writers make?
It varies enormously, depending on experience, track record of success and how often they work. But the current average income for Hollywood writers is $69,510 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Median weekly pay for a writer-producer has declined 14% in the past five years, taking inflation into account. Half of TV writers are working at the minimum rate of about $4,500 a week, compared with 33% 10 years ago. (Most writers only work and get paid for a portion of the year.) Meanwhile, the WGA estimates that industry profits increased from $5 billion in 2000 to at least $28 billion from 2017 to 2021, with studio executives making tens of millions. The AMPTP maintains that it offered "generous increases in compensation," but the WGA argues that streaming has cut into writers' residual payments for reruns. For now, negotiations have stopped. "Philosophically, and practically, we're very far apart," said Writers Guild negotiator Chris Keyser.
Has this happened before?
Yes. There's a long history of work stoppages in Hollywood, often coinciding with major changes in the industry. The first WGA strike was in 1960, when screenwriters won the right to a share in profits when movies aired on TV. In 1973, another strike centered on the emergence of cable. The most recent strike occurred at the dawn of the streaming era in 2007; it lasted 100 days. Los Angeles' economy lost an estimated $2.1 billion during that strike.
What's the streaming issue now?
Network shows once had 24 episodes a season, and writers were paid by the week for about 10 months per season. Streaming shows now often have as few as eight episodes, severely limiting writers' earnings and job security. Residual payments ensured that writers profited from the continued success of their work when networks re-ran syndicated series, but streaming services pay writers one fixed residual fee. "If you make something and a billion people watch it, you don't make more money than if it was a disaster," writer-director Judd Apatow told Variety. Writer Valentina Garza recently shared a photo of a residual check for writing two episodes of Jane the Virgin, which is streaming on Netflix. It totaled three cents. Another controversial change has been using "mini-rooms" instead of traditional writers' rooms. Mini-rooms use fewer writers for less time, often finishing before production begins — cutting writers out of most of the process.
Where does AI fit in?
Writers fear that artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT could start replacing them. The WGA has two demands: a guarantee that scripts can't be written or rewritten by chatbots, and an assurance that studios won't use AI to create basic plot outlines that humans will then flesh out for the screen. Guild members are concerned about what they call "the Nora Ephron problem": If producers fed Ephron's many scripts into AI, it could produce a script that convincingly mimicked her work. In fact, AI could soon be writing, editing and even directing movies from start to finish, giving instructions for shot lists and characters' movements. "Maybe not next year or the year after, but if we're talking 10 years? AI is going to be able to do all of these things," said Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade.
What do the studios say?
The AMPTP insists it made a fair offer — but rejected the writers' demands on regulating AI, countering with an offer to hold annual meetings about technological advancements. The industry group insists it respects the humanity writers bring to their work, but also is keeping its future options open. "The best stories are original, insightful and often come from people's own experiences," the group said, adding, "AI raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone." Screenwriters "can see the writing on the wall," said David Gunkel, a communications professor at Northern Illinois University who researches AI's role in entertainment. "AI is already displacing human labor in many other areas of content creation. The WGA is simply trying to get out in front."
AI's first film
Last year, The Safe Zone became the first movie written and directed by AI. The short film depicts a dystopian future in which AI takes over the world. Its creators started by asking ChatGPT to come up with story ideas, and then fed the best ones back into the software to generate scripts. To keep it on track, they continuously reminded ChatGPT of the plot and asked detailed questions about the story. Next, they instructed the software to create a shot list and detail camera positions, props, and characters' facial expressions. The creators then fed that information into AI image generators to develop a storyboard. As filming got underway, producers repeatedly asked ChatGPT for ideas about cinematography. At this stage, human producers played a big role in directing ChatGPT's work, but AI showed it could write in minutes what human writers would need weeks to accomplish. "Eventually, you'll be able to ask AI for any variation of any film you've ever wanted," said producer Aaron Kemmer. "If you want to see Tom Cruise play Iron Man fighting Darth Vader, you'll be able to ask the AI to create it instantly."
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
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