2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike

Striking writers and supporters raise signs at a WGAW rally in Los Angeles.

The Writers Guild of America strike (2007–present) is a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) that started on November 5, 2007. The WGAE and WGAW are two labor unions representing film, television and radio writers working in the United States. Over 12,000 writers joined the strike.

The strike is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization representing the interests of 397 American film and television producers. The most influential of these are eight corporations: CBS Corporation (headed by Les Moonves), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (headed by Harry E. Sloan), NBC Universal (headed by Jeffrey Zucker), News Corp/Fox (headed by Peter Chernin), Paramount Pictures (headed by Brad Grey), Sony Pictures Entertainment (headed by Michael Lynton), the Walt Disney Company (headed by Robert Iger), and Warner Brothers (headed by Barry M. Meyer).

The Writers Guild has indicated their industrial action would be a "marathon". AMPTP negotiator Nick Counter has indicated negotiations would not resume as long as strike action continues, stating, "We're not going to negotiate with a gun to our heads—that's just stupid."

The current strike has lasted 890 weeks and 1 day, as of November 26, 2024. The last such strike in 1988 lasted 21 weeks and 6 days, costing the American entertainment industry an estimated $500 million ($870 million in 2007 dollars).

According to a report on the January 13 edition of NBC Nightly News, if one takes into account everyone affected by the current strike, the strike has cost the industry $1 billion so far; this is a combination of lost wages to cast and crew members of television and film productions and payments for services provided by janitorial services, caterers, prop and costume rental companies, and the like.

Issues in the strike

Writer-actor Jeff Garlin of Curb Your Enthusiasm (foreground, right) and others at a WGAW rally outside the Fox Studios in Los Angeles.

Every three years, the Writers Guild negotiates a new basic contract with the AMPTP by which its members are employed. This contract is called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). In 2007 negotiations over the MBA reached an impasse, and the WGA membership voted to give its board authorization to call a strike, which it did on Friday, November 2, with the strike beginning the subsequent Monday, November 5, 2007.

Among the many proposals from both sides regarding the new contract, there are several key issues of contention including DVD residuals, union jurisdiction over animation and reality program writers, and compensation for "new media" (content written for or distributed through emerging digital technology such as the Internet).

DVD residuals

Background

We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working, but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations.

AMPTP president Nick Counter

Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable.

WGA Negotiating Committee

In 1988, the Writers Guild went on strike over the home video market, which was then small and primarily consisted of distribution via video tape. At that time, the entertainment companies argued home video was an "unproven" market, with an expensive delivery channel (manufacturing VHS and Betamax tapes, and to a much smaller extent, Laserdisc). Movies were selling in the range of between $40-$100 per tape, and the guild accepted a formula in which a writer would receive a small (0.3%) percentage of the first million of reportable gross (and 0.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual. As manufacturing costs for video tapes dropped dramatically and the home video market exploded, writers came to feel they had been shortchanged by this deal. DVDs debuted in 1996 and rapidly replaced the more-expensive VHS format, becoming the dominant format around 2001. The previous VHS residual formula continued to apply to DVDs.

At present, the home video market is the major source of revenue for the movie studios. In April of 2004, the New York Times reported the companies made $4.8 billion in home video sales versus $1.78 billion at the box office between January and March.

Current proposals

WGA members argue that a writer's residuals, or profits made from subsequent airings or purchases of a program, are a necessary part of a writer's income that is typically relied upon during periods of unemployment common in the writing industry. The WGA requested a doubling of the residual rate for DVD sales, which would result in a residual of 0.6% (up from 0.3%) per DVD sold.

The AMPTP maintains that studios' DVD income is necessary to offset rising production and marketing costs. They have further insisted that the current DVD formula (0.3%) be applied to residuals in other digital media — an area also being contested by the Writers Guild.

The WGA provisionally removed the increased DVD residual request from the table, in an effort to avert a strike and on the understanding of certain concessions by the AMPTP, the night before the strike began. However, after the strike began, WGAW President Patric M. Verrone wrote that the membership exhibited "significant disappointment and even anger" when they learned of the proposed removal of the request; and Verrone also wrote that, since the removal of the increased DVD residual request was contingent on concessions by the AMPTP which did not happen, the writers would and should continue to "fight to get our fair share of the residuals of the future."

New media

WGA West president and Futurama writer Patric Verrone speaks at a strike rally in Los Angeles.

One critical issue for the negotiations is residuals for "new media", or compensation for delivery channels such as Internet downloads, IPTV, streaming, smart phone programming, straight-to-Internet content, and other "on-demand" online distribution methods, along with video on demand on cable and satellite television.

Background

Currently, the WGA has no arrangement with the companies regarding the use of content online, and two models of Internet distribution are currently being negotiated. The first is "electronic sell-through" (also known as "Internet sales" or "digital sell-through"). In electronic sell-through, the consumer purchases a copy of the program and downloads it to a local storage device for subsequent viewing at their convenience. Examples include movies and television shows purchased through the iTunes Store and Amazon Unbox. In the second model, "streaming video", the consumer watches a program in real time as it is transmitted to their computer but is usually not saved. Current examples of this model include advertising-supported television programs streamed free to the audience, such as those available at nbc.com, abc.com, fox.com, cbs.com, thedailyshow.com, and hulu.com.

In either case, the program may be viewed directly on a computer or on a traditional television via media distribution devices (e.g. TiVo). The convenience of both these technologies lowers the barriers to entry into the digital distribution marketplace making it more accessible to mainstream consumers.

It is widely expected by industry observers that new media will eventually supplant both DVD in the home video market and television in the broadcasting market as the primary means for distribution. As in the mid-1980s, the companies have argued that new media represents an unproven and untested market and have asked for additional time for study. However, feeling resentment from the 20-year-old home video deal and unwilling to make similar concessions in a so-called "new market" yet again, WGA members have been adamant that whatever deal they make for new media, it cannot resemble the DVD formula.

New media is widely seen by most WGA writers as the central issue for the strike. Writer-director Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3) has dubbed new media "the One Issue" that matters.

This sentiment was further articulated by a self-described "skeptic", writer Howard Gould, at a meeting of the full WGA membership the night before the strike date was announced. He said, to a standing ovation:

Soon, when computers and your TV are connected, that's how we're all going to watch. Okay? Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don't make a stand now. ... This is such a big issue that if they see us roll over on this without making a stand - three years from now, they're gonna be back for something else. ... I might have been the most moderate one up here when we started, but I sat there in the room the first day and they read us those thirty-two pages of rollbacks. And what they wanted us to hear was that "if you don't give us what [we] want on the important thing, we're gonna come after you for all those other things." But what I heard was, if we give them that thing, they'll still come after us for those other things. And in three years, it'll be "we want to revamp the whole residual system," and in another three years, it'll be "y'know what, we don't really want to fund the health fund the way we've been." And then it will be pension. And then it'll be credit determination. And there just is that time when everybody has to see—this is one where we just gotta stand our ground.

Current proposals

The WGA has proposed that writers receive 2.5% of distributor's gross for new-media sales and distribution.

The companies have for now refused to address this proposal, and have instead proposed Internet sales follow the same formula as DVD sales. With regard to streaming, the companies have proposed that so-called "promotional" streaming—including the streaming of a program in its entirety and even for profit via advertising or other means—does not entitle the writer or writers to any residuals whatsoever.

Both of these proposals have been rejected by the WGA and are cited as evidence the studios "(want) to shut down rather than reaching a fair deal."

Jurisdiction in reality and animation

The WGA's membership of approximately 12,000 writers (more than 7,000 in WGAW and more than 4,000 in WGAE) primarily work on live-action, script-driven movies and television programs.

Exactly if and how the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) should apply to other TV and film categories such as reality television and animation has been inconsistent over the years and is an area of much dispute.

The WGA had been pushing for jurisdiction of reality and animation, but have recently dropped these issues as the WGA and AMPTP have entered into informal negotiations.

Background

The negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA are at an impasse because the WGA has continued to press a series of unreasonable demands that have nothing to do with new media and the real concerns of most working writers.

AMPTP statement: The State of the Strike: Day 47

Programs such as Real People and That's Incredible!, which were arguably "reality" shows of the 1980s, were covered by the MBA, whereas more recently produced reality shows such as Survivor and America's Next Top Model are not. Many producers of reality programming argue that since these shows are mostly, if not entirely, unscripted, there is no writer. The WGA counters that the process of creating interesting scenarios, culling raw material, and shaping it into a narrative with conflict, character arc, and storyline constitutes writing and should fall under its contract.

In the summer of 2006, the WGA west attempted to organize employees of America's Next Top Model. The employees voted to join the WGA, but then they were fired and production continued without them.

Animated films and TV programs have also been an area of heavy contention. The majority of animated film and television writing is not covered by the WGA's MBA. Most animated feature films have been written under the jurisdiction of another union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 839, also known as The Animation Guild. IATSE's jurisdiction stemmed from Walt Disney's tradition of creating an animated feature via storyboards written and drawn by storyboard artists. In recent years, most studios have begun hiring screenwriters to write script pages which are then storyboarded. According to the WGA, 100% of animated feature film screenplays in 2005 were written by at least one WGA member. Recently, some animated features, such as Beowulf, were written under the WGA contract. The only animated television programs affected by the strike are The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and American Dad!.

The WGA and the IATSE have an ongoing disagreement as to which union should represent animation writers.

Current proposals

Regarding reality programming, the WGA has requested contract language clarifying that reality programming does fall under its jurisdiction. They have further proposed the adoption of a credit, “Story Producer” and “Supervising Story Producer” to be given to those writers performing story contributions to a reality show.

As for animation, the WGA has proposed clarifying its jurisdiction to cover all animation in TV and film that does not encroach on the jurisdiction of another union.

The AMPTP has not agreed to these proposals.

On January 22, WGA president Patric Verrone announced that the reality and animation jurisdiction proposals were formally removed from the table, although organizing efforts in this area are to continue.

Negotiations and strike activity

WGA members gather at a November 9, 2007 rally at Fox Plaza in Century City, Los Angeles, California.

The current WGA contracts with AMPTP expired on October 31 2007. Talks broke down the night of the 31st over the new-media issue. During a meeting on November 1 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which was attended by 3,000 WGAW members, the general membership was informed that the negotiating committee had formally recommended a strike. The board said it would announce the date of the strike the following morning. On November 2, the WGAE and WGAW announced that the strike would begin at 12:01 AM on November 5.

On November 4, in a last-ditch conciliation to try to avoid the strike, the WGA temporarily withdrew its DVD proposal, but the companies still insisted on a lack of residual for new media. Talks subsequently broke down, with both sides accusing the other of walking out.

Thus, on November 5, nearly 3,000 WGAW members, plus additional SAG and Teamsters members, picketed or refused to cross the picket lines at 14 targeted studios in Los Angeles. Additionally, many more Writer's Guild of America East picketers marched in locations in New York including Rockefeller Center. Picketing is scheduled to continue throughout the strike period.

On Friday, November 9, following four days of targeted picketing, a massive rally was held outside the Fox studios in Los Angeles, drawing an estimated 4,000 WGAW members and supporters, including a sizable number of SAG members. Speakers included WGA West president Patric M. Verrone, Family Guy/American Dad! creator Seth MacFarlane, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and producer Norman Lear. The rally was opened with a two-song performance by Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello (as The Nightwatchman) of Rage Against the Machine.

On late November 16, 2007, both the WGA and the AMPTP made the following announcement: "Leaders from the WGA and the AMPTP have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26. No other details or press statements will be issued."

On November 29, 2007, the AMPTP submitted a new proposal to the WGA, reportedly worth an additional $130 million in compensation. The WGA responded that it did not understand how the $130m figure had been calculated, but was pleased the AMPTP was proposing figures in that range. Both sides agreed to a four-day recess at the WGA's request. Talks were resumed on December 4.

Following a renewed push on jurisdiction in reality programming by the WGA, including a rally outside North American headquarters of non-signatory reality producer FremantleMedia, talks again broke off on December 7 when the AMPTP walked away from the table, issuing a press release that they would return only upon the WGA dropping several key proposals, among them the reality proposal. This move had been predicted by reporter Nikki Finke and others, many of whom suspect the AMPTP is intentionally delaying negotiations so that it may terminate unwanted production contracts via force majeure. According to Wall Street, the impact of accepting all of WGA's proposals are "largely negligible" and "financially small", suggesting that the studios are afraid that reaching a favorable settlement with the writers might "embolden directors and actors in their coming renegotiations."

In mid-December, the WGA announced plans to try to negotiate with individual production companies to end the impasse.

However, on January 19 the AMPTP and WGA agreed to resume informal talks in an effort to organize formal negotiations[2]. This was accepted and both parties decided to go back to the negotiating table as of that date, however WGA president has ordered that there be a media black-out and that no WGA employees are to report any news to the media. According to a source, the strike could be over within a matter of weeks, a month at most.

On January 25, 2008 it was announced that the WGA had made an interim agreement with Lions Gate and Marvel Studios. This is an incredibly promising deal for the strike as Lions Gate is a very well known production company. However, the AMPTP has commented on these types of agreements as "meaningless", although talks between them and WGA are to continue over the weekend and many critics believe the strike can be over within two weeks.

Strategies and tactics

AMPTP

The WGA organizers are grasping for straws and have never had a coherent strategy for engaging in serious negotiations. The AMPTP may have different companies with different assets in different businesses, but they are all unified in one common goal -- to reach an agreement with writers that positions everyone in our industry for success in a rapidly changing marketplace.

AMPTP spokesman Jesse Hiestand

Foreseeing the possibility of a strike, production companies accelerated production of films and television episodes in an effort to stockpile enough material to continue regular film releases and TV schedules during the strike period. A list of 300 high-priority film projects reportedly circulated around talent agencies in accordance with this effort.

Following the refusal of many showrunners (writer-producers) to cross the picket line in the first week of the strike, production companies sent breach-of-contract letters and have suspended many of them without pay.

There is also speculation the companies are seeking out other sources of writing services, including in the UK. The Writers' Guild of Great Britain attempted to thwart this effort, however, by discouraging British union members from participating. Paul Cornell, a writer for several successful television series in the UK, mentioned in a post on his blog on December 14 2007 that he had declined an approach to cross the WGA picket line and write for an American series.

The AMPTP announced on December 6 that it has hired the public relations services of Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, self-dubbed the "Masters of Disaster", who have previously worked for Democratic politicians (including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Grey Davis) and who, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "earn up to $100,000 a month for pulling their clients out of public relations quicksand." The AMPTP has also hired former Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt of Mercury Public Affairs in Sacramento.

Fabiani & Lehane's strategy appears to be to try to weaken the WGA membership's resolve and foment resentment and doubt regarding WGA leadership within its ranks and in the film industry at large, especially with below-the-line workers, by framing the strike as "havoc...wreaked...by the WGA's actions" (paraphrased) and by blaming the WGA for "start[ing] this strike". They are also attempting to recast language in terms more favorable to the AMPTP, such as referring to WGA negotiators as "organizers" and branding the AMPTP proposals as a "New Economic Partnership".

In response to their work for the AMPTP, Fabiani & Lehane's union clients SEIU Local 99 and Change To Win terminated their contracts with the consultants.

The DGA's tentative contract settlement has called a possible end to the writer's strike although many writers believe it's just a tactical ploy from the studios who have always paid directors extremely more than writers on average.

WGA

If they gave us everything we had on the table right now, if they gave us everything we wanted—everything—and they then made a deal with the DGA and matched it, which is what they'll do, and then they made a deal with the Screen Actors Guild and tripled it, which is typically what happens…if they did that—if they gave us everything—on a company-by-company basis they would be giving all of us less than each of their CEOs makes in a year. And in some cases, a lot less.

WGAW president Patric Verrone

It was initially expected that the strike, if it occurred, would be scheduled for the summer of 2008 to coincide with the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's contracts. Instead, the strike started shortly after the WGA's contracts expired. This was apparently done to give the AMPTP less time to stockpile scripts and otherwise prepare for a strike in 2008.

During the pre-strike negotiations, the WGA created "contract captains" to keep the general membership informed on a person-to-person basis of the latest developments. Once the strike started, these members became "strike captains" who are tasked with communication duties as well as helping to coordinate pickets.

The WGA has assigned picketers to location shoots in an attempt to shut down production and have set up picket lines in front of studio gates to encourage Teamsters, particularly truck drivers, not to cross the line.

For its second week of picketing, the WGA has reduced their studio strike list from fourteen to ten, shifted picketing hours to earlier in the day, and has scheduled a series of daily strike themes ranging from "Bring-A-Star-To-Picket-With-You" (also called "Cast Day") to "Bring-Your-Kids" special events.

The WGA has made a direct appeal to the public to explain the issues behind the strike, including use of online videos and blogs. WGA strike captains have also encouraged fans to mail pencils to the film and TV moguls en masse. They are also looking to unorthodox methods, including performing a mock exorcism against Warner Bros. and holding the last rites for the former MBA.

Additionally, the WGA has appealed to members of crew and industry craft unions, including the Teamsters, and IATSE, some of whom may not be aware that their union also receives residuals to pay for health and pension programs and that they are expected to directly benefit from residual gains made by the WGA.

In late December, the WGA announced a new "divide and conquer" strategy designed to break the solidarity of the AMPTP by negotiating strategic interim deals with individual networks, studios, and production companies who are willing to agree to the WGA's proposals. This is intended to put pressure on the other member companies, especially those who are competing with companies that are thus able to return to production. The approach has resulted in deals with David Letterman's television production company Worldwide Pants, another with feature studio United Artists, and a third one with film studio The Weinstein Company. The new strategy contains some risk for the WGA, however, as some members may resent a few writers working while others are still on strike..

On January 14 2008, two additional side deals were announced by the WGA- one with Media Rights Capital, a production company working on both features and television, and the other with Spyglass Entertainment. On January 25 2008, another side deal was reached; the WGA and Marvel Entertainment Studios signed an interim comprehensive agreement.

Effect on television and film

Production employees

Because production ceased for all scripted television programming, hundreds or thousands of support staff were (and still are) laid off by the studios.

The AMPTP estimated that WGA writers and crewmembers in the IATSE union have lost $342.8 million in wages.

Television

Main article: Effect of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike on television

All scripted Hollywood shows except October Road were expected to shut down by the week of December 19, 2007. Hollywood journalist Nikki Finke reported, "CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now."

Within the first week of the strike, AMPTP-member companies fired writers' assistants, production assistants, and other lower-level staffers working on shut down programs. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane called this a "desperate, punitive act" and called on "all show-runners whose assistants are terminated, if you have the means, keep paying your assistants because this strike is about the little guys."

Of the "Big Four" networks, CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX, NBC has had the most severe ad shortfall as its prime time ratings have been declining sharply; none of its new shows have achieved breakout success. Moreover, during 2007, NBC saw its prime time 18-to-49-year-old viewership drop by 11%. CBS dropped the same demographic by 10%, and ABC lost 5%. Fox executive Peter Chernin has suggested the strike is "probably a positive" for the network, expecting its non-WGA reality hit American Idol to do especially well given reduced competition.

Although both are WGA members who have pledged support for the writers, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien have announced that following the collapse of negotiations, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien would return to air on January 2, 2008 without writers, citing their non-writing staff facing layoffs as the main reason.

Unlike Leno and O'Brien, whose talk shows are produced and owned by their respective networks, David Letterman owns his own independent production company, Worldwide Pants, which on December 28 announced an "interim agreement" with the WGA. This agreement allows his talk show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to air with writers during the strike under terms contained in the WGA's previously-rejected proposals to the AMPTP.

The guild stated it had no plans to target Leno and O'Brien with protests such as were aimed at non-WGA member Carson Daly, who was accused of setting up a joke hotline as a strike-breaking effort when he returned to air. After being back on air, however, Leno was charged by WGA of strike violation after he penned and delivered monologues, but it is unclear as to what action the guild will take. Later, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced that their shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, would also return without writers on January 7, 2008. The WGA accused Comedy Central and NBC of forcing hosts back on air by threatening the jobs of the staff and crew of their shows, and said it would picket them. To show respect to the writers, The Daily Show has been renamed, for the duration of the strike, A Daily Show with Jon Stewart. James Jonathan (talk) 20:22, 26 January 2008 (UTC)Similarly, The Colbert Report was rebranded as The Colbert Report (with hard T's) for its first new episode since the strike began. Since then, however, the name of the show has not been spoken on air, appearing only in the main title. In support of the strike, Screen Actors Guild urged its members to appear on programs that have independent agreements with the WGA, such as The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Entertainment award telecasts

On December 18, the WGA announced it would not issue waivers for the Golden Globes and Oscars award ceremonies, and SAG also decided not to support the Golden Globes, which left the award ceremony without presenters and accepters. Labor experts stated that this move was "an attempt by the guild to bring the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers back to the bargaining table."

The WGA granted a waiver to the Film Independent's Spirit Awards, which will be broadcast live and unedited on February 23 on the Independent Film Channel, with actor Rainn Wilson as its host. An edited repeat will air later that evening on AMC. The WGA has also granted a waiver to the SAG for its awards show, Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be broadcasted live by TNT and TBS on January 27.

The People's Choice Awards, which was denied a waiver, stated it would have to revamp the format of the ceremony by releasing a taped ceremony for January 8 telecast on CBS, instead of airing it live as usual. As a result of the changes which were made, the telecast was viewed by just 6 million viewers, the lowest rating it has had in its history. This was down from 11.3 million viewers the previous year.

On January 7, 2008 it was announced that the Golden Globes ceremony would not be telecast live. The ceremony was faced with a threat by actors to boycott the ceremony rather than cross picket lines and by striking writers threatening to picket the event. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which hosts the Golden Globes, and NBC were forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. After NBC canceled its exclusive newscast of HFPA announcing the winners, HFPA took complete control of the awards announcement and opened its press conference to all media. WGA assured HFPA that it would not picket the event, citing HFPA's honesty and its honorable and respectful treatment of the guild as reasons. The NBC telecast plummeted in the ratings from 16.0 for the full ceremony in 2007 to 4.7 for the press conference in 2008, fourth (and last) among major networks that night.

Response

Actors

They claim there’s no money in the Internet. That’s a shell game.

Actor Robin Williams

Main article: Reaction by actors to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike

The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) contracts with the AMPTP both contain a "no strike" clause, meaning that working members of the acting unions are not supposed to walk off their set in support of another union's strike. However, many actors have expressed their support for the writers' strike, with some marching with writers and even refusing to cross the WGA's picket line.

Writer-producers

Family Guy and American Dad creator and actor Seth MacFarlane speaks at a WGAW rally in Los Angeles on November 9, 2007.

Many television writer-producers, also known as "hyphenates" (or "show-runners", if they are in charge of the day-to-day production of a television show) who are WGA members found themselves contractually obligated to continue their production duties while simultaneously barred from performing writing duties during the strike. In a show of solidarity with the writers, approximately 120 show-runners marched in Burbank on November 7, 2007 and many have decided to honor the picket lines entirely, refusing to perform even their production duties during the strike.

Agents

Literary agents stand to lose business when the writers they represent are not working. Some agencies have reportedly eliminated assistant positions and others have asked their agents to take pay cuts during the strike. A few of the larger and more prominent agencies, including William Morris, CAA, and ICM have provided coffee, bagels, and churros for picketing writers. Agents had also reportedly been involved in back-channel efforts to get the two parties to return to the negotiating table before talks resumed November 26.

Media executives

Two prominent executives, both of whom headed major studios in the 1980s and moved on to Internet-related ventures, have voiced their disagreement with the tactics of the WGA.

For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future — they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now — they are misguided; they should not have gone on the strike.

Michael Eisner, new-media executive

Former Walt Disney Corporation CEO Michael Eisner characterized the writer's strike as "insanity". He addressed a business conference, saying, "I've seen stupid strikes, I've seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike."

Former Paramount and Fox CEO Barry Diller also has stated the strike is "stupid." In comments to Fox Business Channel, he said, "There are no profits for the work that writers do that is then digitized and distributed through the Internet." Diller is currently the CEO of the Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Diller also suggested that the writers guild should have waited five years to see where the revenues from new-media ventures were coming from. "We want to freeze this area until we can understand the revenues, which aren’t going to develop for another few years."

Neither executive, however, expressed support for the AMPTP.

Presidential candidate John Edwards attends November 16, 2007 rally for striking writers at a WGAW protest at NBC in Burbank.

Politicians

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he is negotiating with both sides of the dispute "because it has a tremendous economic impact on our state." The 2008 Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson, each issued statements of support for the WGA. Although 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani stated that "a candidate for office really shouldn't get involved," he did offer to serve as a mediator between the parties, citing his experience "settl[ing] several difficult labor disputes" as Mayor of New York City. Civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson has marched with the writers and spoke at a WGA rally on November 9, 2007. On November 13, 2007, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party adopted a resolution in support of the WGA. WGAW president Patric Verrone and Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg traveled to Washington, D.C. on November 14 to meet with legislators and regulators about the unions' position on new media. On November 16, John Edwards appeared in person to picket and speak with the writers outside NBC studios in Burbank, CA. The December 10, 2007 Democratic Presidential debate that was to be held in Los Angeles, California, was cancelled on November 28, 2007 due to candidate boycott.

On December 19, Los Angeles City Council’s Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on the economic impact of the strike on the local and regional economy, allowing the WGA and AMPTP to testify. However, the AMPTP declined to attend, but sent in Motion Picture Association of America to issue a statement to the committee on its behalf. The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution which urged the two sides to return to the bargaining table. Jerry Nickelsburg, an economics professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management, presented UCLA Anderson Forecast's economic report. He stated that so far, the strike has not affected the economy deeply, citing the network's inventory stockpiling in preparation of the strike and the increase in usage of reality shows. Ultimately, the Forecast predicted an economic impact of $380 million if the strike were to last 22 weeks, which was how long the 1988 strike had lasted. Jack Kyser, an economist of Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, predicted that the total amount of the direct loss and indirect loss so far was estimated at $220 million, and revenues generated for the county from the annual Academy Awards would dip if the strike were to continue and actors honored the picket lines.

On January 3, 2008, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared on The Tonight Show. "I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely. They're dead right on this one... I don't think anybody supports the producers on this one. Maybe the producers support the producers, but I think everybody in the business and even the general public supports the writers."

Other unions and associations

The WGA has acknowledged support from several unions, including the Screen Actors Guild, the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the National Writers Union, as well as writers guilds in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, France, Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, Switzerland, and Belgium. Many of the various genre writers associations have also come out in support of the WGA's strike, including the Horror Writers Association, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

The numbers speak for themselves and show that the WGA leadership is totally out of touch with the impact of their foolhardy tactics. Figures don't lie, liars figure.

IATSE president Tom Short

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents most of the below-the-line motion picture employees (over 50,000 members) and has jurisdictional disputes with WGAW in animation, has not joined the strike, citing a "no strike" provision in their contracts. IATSE president Tom Short has publicly criticized the tactics of the WGA, arguing that the writers guild intended to strike almost a year in advance of the expiration of the writers' contract. In a letter to Verrone made publicly available, Short wrote, "When I phoned you on Nov. 28, 2006, to ask you to reconsider the timing of negotiations, you refused. It now seems that you were intending that there be a strike no matter what you were offered, or what conditions the industry faced when your contract expired at the end of October."

General public

Several opinion polls have gauged the public's response to the strike. One national survey conducted by Pepperdine University from November 7 to November 9 found that 84%, or more than four out of five Americans, were aware the strike was in progress. While 75% of respondents were found to have little to no concern over the strike, nearly two-thirds of the sample sided with the writers, one third was unsure, and only four percent sympathized with the AMPTP (1,000 American adults participated). A second regional poll conducted by SurveyUSA on November 11 of Los Angeles residents indicated that eight percent supported the studios with sixty-nine percent supporting the writers (550 American adults participated, with 482 identifying themselves as being familiar with the strike). According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted six weeks into the strike from December 13 to December 15, 60% of Americans side with the writers, while 14% favor the studios (1,011 American adults participated). Among the viewers, 49% said they were more likely to watch reruns, 40% said they planned to watch reality series and other programming not disrupted by the strike, and 26% were more likely to buy or rent DVDs of television series from past seasons. Viewers of late-night talk shows have already changed their habits: out of 25% of the poll respondents who said they frequently or occasionally watch late-night talk shows, 27% watched another show, 25% went to bed earlier, and 25% read. Only 12% watched reruns, indicated by the shows' decreasing ratings.

Viewers of individual television shows have organized to support "their" writers. Fans4writers, an outgrowth of Joss Whedon's fan base, have walked the picket line and provided regular food drops to picketing writers. Additional projects in support of the strike are on-going.

The long-term effect on the viewing habits of the general public is difficult to gauge. Estimates suggest that 10% of the overall television-viewing audience was lost as a result of the 1988 writers strike, a drop-off that has not been reversed.

Related work stoppages

Possible industry-wide strike

Any increase for the benefits of health insurance, pension, or residual gains made by the WGA are also likely to be demanded by other entertainment industry labor unions when their contracts expire. This is a practice known as pattern bargaining — the first union to reach a contract with the AMPTP usually sets the template for the agreement with other unions.

In July 2008, the contracts for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Directors Guild of America (DGA) will expire. The DGA has announced that its negotiations with the AMPTP would start on January 12, 2008. The DGA's membership, comprised of directors as well as below-the-line workers (1st and 2nd assistant directors), is less focused on the WGA's most contentious issue- new media residuals. On January 17, the Directors Guild of America announced a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Like the WGA, however, SAG is very concerned with residuals in new media and has been especially supportive of the WGA's strike effort. SAG president Alan Rosenberg has suggested that SAG may choose to ignore the tradition of pattern bargaining if terms of the DGA's deal is deemed insufficient to the actors. Thus, if the new media issue is not resolved to their satisfaction by the DGA or WGA by July of 2008, SAG is likely to strike when their contract expires, a move which could potentially bring the Hollywood film industry to a near-complete standstill.

The leaders of the Writers Guild of America plan to resume negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in the hopes of ending the strike effective on January 22, 2008. ER executive producer John Wells states that he thinks the strike can be easily resolved within two weeks. Other writers disagree with Wells' overall positive assessment of the DGA tentative agreement, which may serve as a possible model for a resolution with the WGA and SAG.

On January 23, 2008 the leaders of the Writers Guild of America held talks with Hollywood studios in hopes of resuming negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Prior to the talks the WGA removed two key proposals in an effort to speed up progress and initiate formal negotiations as soon as possible.

2007 CBS News writers strike

Main article: 2007 CBS news writers strike

On November 19, 2007, news writers for CBS News and CBS-owned stations voted to authorize strike action against their employers. Timed closely to the WGA strike, this action has resulted in statements from politicians unwilling to cross picket lines for interview shows and candidate debates.

On January 9, 2008, the WGAE and CBS News struck a tentative deal. The agreement has yet to be ratified by the general membership but was unanimously approved by the WGAE negotiating committee.

See also

	Organized Labour Portal
	Television Portal
	Film Portal
	Media and images from Commons

• Effect of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike on television
• 1988 Writers Guild of America strike
• 1960 Writers Guild of America strike
• Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
• Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE)
• Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW)
• Reaction by actors to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike
• Financial core

External links

Union links

• Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) official site
• Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) official site
• Directors Guild of America (DGA) official site
• Screen Actors Guild (SAG) official site
• American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) official site
• Writers Guild of Great Britain official site

Employer links

• Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) official site

News links

• Los Angeles Times WGA strike news portal
• Los Angeles Times WGA strike news blog (RSS)
• Variety WGA strike news portal
• Variety WGA strike news blog (RSS)
• LA Weekly - Deadline Hollywood Daily Blog from Nikki Finke
• TV Guide Strike Watch Blog (RSS)
• PinnacleSports.com Odds on When Writers Strike Will End

WGA member blog links

• Hollywood Strikes (RSS)
• UnitedHollywood A blog maintained by WGA strike captains and other writer-friendly bloggers (RSS)
• Why We Strike A pro-WGA video intended for the layperson explaining the WGA's issues
• News From Me Blog from television/animation writer Mark Evanier
• ArtfulWriter.com This blog, by high profile feature screenplay writers Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott, is frequently visited by WGA members to discuss the strike and other writer-related matters (RSS)
• Criminal Minds Fanatic Edward Allen Bernero, executive producer of the TV show Criminal Minds, explains the strike to fans
• JohnAugust.com A blog by writer John August, with almost daily strike updates.