The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has officially confirmed a writers strike after negotiations with studios couldn't bring about a sufficient deal that could be agreed upon. A strike has been looming in recent weeks, as the WGA has been negotiating for viewership-based residual payments for TV shows on streaming services, a payment model that already exists for broadcast television. The guild is also fighting for a higher minimum salary and regulation on AI scriptwriting, among other proposals that would give writers more financial and job security.Now, the WGA has officially announced a writers strike after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) didn't yield sufficient results.

The WGA's strike began on May 2 at 12:01 a.m. PST and is poised to continue until a fair deal with the AMPTP can be made. A letter about the strike from WGA's negotiating committee explains the context of the strike, ending with a statement that can be read below:

Here is what all writers know: the companies have broken this business. They have taken so much from the very people, the writers, who have made them wealthy. But what they cannot take from us is each other, our solidarity, our mutual commitment to save ourselves and this profession that we love. We had hoped to do this through reasonable conversation. Now we will do it through struggle. For the sake of our present and our future, we have been given no other choice.

What The Writers Strike Means For Movies & TV

The WGA's strike will impact TV shows and movies alike, as members are responsible for writing the scripts of films and shows from all major studios, streaming services, and broadcast networks. This includes live, scripted talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, which won't be able to produce new episodes during the strike. While most scripts for upcoming shows and movies are already written, the effects of the strike will still be major.

This is the first WGA strike since 2007-'08, and that writers strike resulted in many cancelled TV shows due to the absence of WGA's talent. It also caused multiple delays, as shows without completed scripts were forced to halt production, causing hundreds of thousands of support staff layoffs from studios. A writers strike almost impacted the superhero boom in 2017, as well, but last-minute negotiations prevented it from happening. This latest strike is likely to have a similar impact on TV as the 2007-'08 one, as anything that hasn't been written yet can't be produced.

However, the impact of the WGA's strike likely won't be felt by consumers for a few months, as scripts are often written well in advance for TV series and movies that are in production. Even so, many films and series will see their production halted or delayed until the WGA gets the compensation they're fighting for - and those that do move forward, as the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace did in '07, could find themselves significantly impacted. There may be substantially fewer movies and TV series to look forward to depending on how long the WGA strike lasts, and if the AMPTP is willing to meet their demands.

Source: Writer's Guild of America