Members of the Writers Guild of America have voted to authorise a strike with 95% support.
There hasn’t been a writers strike since back in 2007 which lasted for 100 days. That strike affected many properties and caused many a hit show to stumble and ultimately never recover.
The dispute is between the writers and production companies, and results of the vote to authorise the strike came a day ahead of resumption of contract negotiations of a master contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
If the strike goes into action work stoppage could occur as soon as May 2nd which is when the current contract expires.
The guild is asking for a raise in script fees to counter balance the changing landscape of television such as the trend towards seasons with fewer episodes. It also wants parity for writers working on VOD services which currently are being paid less than on traditional broadcast media.
What could this all mean? Well if it is anything like 2007, many shows could become affected.
For example, in a letter by David Young, WGA West executive director, to ad buyers, he sent out the following warning:
“Immediately, late night shows, including Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Saturday Night Live, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and others will go off the air. Some scripted series scheduled to air in the summer of 2017 may be affected as writing and producing for the season is ongoing.”
And Uproxx notes that shows American Horror Story, Jessica Jones, Star Trek: Discovery, and The Walking Dead could all feel the consequences of the strike.
With such a wonderful start to the year in terms of TV, let’s all just hope that the two parties can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Originally published April 25, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
