The Writers Guild of America’s current strike for fair compensation has crossed oceans as British writer Jack Thorne has put down his pen and paused work on two projects in solidarity with his American counterparts, Deadline has reported. The scribe is well known to have penned fan-favorite features such as Netflix’s Enola Holmes and His Dark Material.
“For me, the crucial issue of the strike is about writer minimums and protecting young writers,” he said. Adding “We need to be looking after these young writers to ensure they have a career and can run their own shows and be the generation that does even better with television.” While he only revealed that the projects he has paused are a TV series and a movie, his current lineup of work includes features such as BBC’s recently announced Lord Of The Flies TV adaptation.
Why Is Writers Guild of America on a Strike?
The WGA strike has been looming large on Hollywood for some time now as writers request fair wages for their work. As soon as the current contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended on May 1, the strike began. On one side there are networks, streamers, Hollywood studios, and an array of TV and movie producers while on the other side, there is the Writers Guild of America, which represents the writers in Hollywood who are seeking fair wages for their work. The WGA is supported by unions including the SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Furthermore, a number of shows have shut down in solidarity with the writers as well as many celebrities such as Elizabeth Olsen and Brett Goldstein voicing their support.
For its members, the WGA is seeking fair compensation and residuals, and curbs on mini-rooms. Given the big bucks movies and TV shows are making, it is only right that the writers, who are earning considerably less than other stakeholders, be compensated fairly. The guild also noted that given the shift to streaming the writers find their work devalued in various unfair ways. Furthermore, the guild has argued that the producers are well able to compensate writers more fairly. They also demand a policy on AI and authorship, and how it could be used to generate scripts especially if a writer’s ideas are used as the basis for AI-generated work.
Historically with changes in technology and work conditions, writers have to fight for their rights. The previous strike took place in 2007-08 and lasted about 14 weeks, profoundly impacting the industry. Until Hollywood does right by its writers, the industry is again looking at a dicey future.