The "Hollywood Strike" that the whole world is watching is still going on.

The strike, which began on May 2, 2023, is the largest ever in Hollywood. Close to two months have passed, not only no fire trend, but also intensified - from the initial 11,000 writers involved, gradually involved in a number of actors and actresses, including directors and unions. A number of popular programs and series stop broadcasting, stop filming, the entire U.S. film and television industry into chaos.

On June 21, thousands of writers' union members marched in Pan Pacific Park in the Fairfax, Virginia area, the latest development in the current strike action.

A "pre-publicized" strike action

The strike started simply because the writers' union, the WGA, failed to agree on a new contract with the AMPTP, which represents several major Hollywood studios - the Writers Guild of America, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Guild of America), the latter is the "Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers" (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers).

As early as April this year, 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if the new contract was not signed. As a result, after the old contract expired on May 1, a new one was not in sight, so the strike began the next day. Because the main participants were mainly Hollywood writers and actors, the strike action was called the "Hollywood Strike".

The WGA demanded a total pay raise of nearly $600 million for the writers, but the AMPTP rejected the demand, and the camp behind the AMPTP includes major companies and platforms such as Amazon, Disney, Universal Pictures, Paramount and Apple.

Hollywood has had many strikes in its history, and each one has had a huge impact on the U.S. film and television industry. The last writers' strike of the same scale occurred in 2007 and lasted for 100 days, causing more than $3 billion in economic losses in California alone, with several shows, including Grey's Anatomy and Desperado, affected, cancelled or delayed.

This strike was no exception. In addition to the suspension of several nightly talk shows such as "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" and "Weekend Night Live," according to the Washington Post, more than two dozen film and television episodes or projects have been affected, including the ongoing final season of "Stranger Things," sequels to "Avatar" and "Star Wars," the "Game of Thrones" spinoff "Knights of the Seven Kingdoms" and more. [1] Because of the lack of writers, these episodes could not continue to be filmed, and some nightly shows were replaced with reruns of old shows for the time being.

Due to the spillover effect of the strike, film and television-related industries were also affected. People working in the industry, including prop production companies, equipment companies, transportation drivers, and even catering staff on set, may lose their jobs.

The writers' strike of 2007 has contributed to the rise of reality TV shows that rely less on scripts, such as the worldwide hit "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which was a product of the strike.

In addition to writers, Hollywood actors and directors are negotiating a new round of contracts with the AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing 160,000 film and television actors, is negotiating with the AMPTP over a contract that is set to expire on June 30. Union members voted overwhelmingly (98 percent) to authorize union leaders to also strike, as the writers did, if a new contract is not reached by June 30.

The actors' strike will lead to a broader shutdown in Hollywood, and the two sides have now been in contract negotiations since June 7. The Directors Guild of America (DGA), on the other hand, has reached an agreement with AMPTP that includes salary increases (12.5% over 3 years) and benefits packages, increased streaming content splits, and prevention of AI abuse, among other things.

It is worth noting that the DGA was the first to negotiate a contract during the strike action in 2007, and the writers were forced to agree to similar terms and hastily end the strike.

But judging from the current direction, the drama won't repeat itself, and this time the writers don't seem to be planning to compromise.

In the age of streaming, a new labor conflict

According to a previous report released by the WGA, the median weekly salary for writer-producers has fallen 23 percent over the past decade. Meanwhile, nearly half (49 percent) of U.S. writers are receiving minimum wage, and their pay rates have risen by 16 percent from just 10 years ago. [2]

This sounds mind-boggling. After all, the past decade has also been a decade of rapid growth and takedown of streaming platforms. Netflix has hit one statistical miracle after another and taken over half of Hollywood, with a huge number of series being developed, filmed, and aired, generating huge profits, and correspondingly, production investment is rising. However, the income received by writers is quite small, and has even been shrinking.

This has to mention the impact of the streaming platform on the traditional production model, and the resulting decline in income for writers and other issues.

In the film and TV production industry, the traditional model is that writers are hired to write scripts, then receive an advance and a final payment when the show is rebroadcast. A show would employ about 7-12 writers who would spend about 20 weeks in the writer's room to write a full script.

But in the age of streaming, the writer's room has become a mini room. Producers often ask writers to complete an outline, or a script for a pilot episode, first. The subsequent production of the script may be irrelevant to the writer - either the whole project will be stopped due to the poor reception of the pilot episode, or the producer will hire a lower-priced junior writer to finish the rest of the script based on the outline. From the producer's perspective, this model is less expensive, but for the writers, it means lower paychecks and no job security.

Even with the opportunity to write an entire season, writers can earn less than ever before. The reason for this is that due to the nature of streaming platforms, episodes tend to be very short and have fewer episodes. Generally speaking, the number of episodes of traditional American dramas is around 20, but streaming episodes will generally be 6-8 episodes. At the same time, scripts are produced at a much faster pace, with writers often working for 6-9 months in the traditional model, while streaming reduces the production time to a few weeks. This means great work pressure on one hand, and on the other hand, it means that writers' basic benefits are not guaranteed. Because the actual hours of work are reduced, and the producers only provide benefits coverage when the writers are working for them.

As screenwriter Ellie Adelson says, the screenwriting industry is going from a stable middle-class life to a very precarious one, almost a zero-work economy.

According to the WGA, the lowest weekly salary for a screenwriter is only $4,546. While that may not sound like a small number, it's important to know that writers don't receive a regular salary and are only available for a very limited period of time during the year," said Chris Keyser, co-chair of the WGA negotiating committee. us to the brink of survival." [3]

The WGA is also pushing for improvements in other areas, such as fighting for higher residual pay and calling for an industry standard for the number of writers per show. To prevent producers from hiring writers from outside the union to write scripts to break the strike, the WGA said writers who worked for the producers during this time would be ineligible to enter the union.

It's worth noting that many writers are also threatening to dramatize already-written episodes if a new deal is delayed.

AI-generated content that became the focus of the strike

In addition to the impact brought by streaming platforms, AI, especially AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content), has become the core of this conflict.

ChatGPT, which has been gaining attention since early 2023, has affected Hollywood and the entire film and television industry. Marvel's latest airing of the film and TV series "Secret Invasion" has already used AI in the production process to generate the opening credits and has been subject to controversy.

For screenwriters, the already meager benefits can hardly withstand the impact of AI employment replacement. At the same time, the AI trains a library of existing scripts that make up a large portion of it. This is equivalent to the AI stealing the fruits of a screenwriter's labor without any payment. Therefore, the various demands against AI have become the core of what the multiple subjects in this strike are fighting for.

The writers' union WGA demanded during negotiations that the AI not be allowed to receive bylines and that writers not be required to make changes based on what the AI has written, as this would also significantly reduce the number of hours worked. At the same time, producers are not allowed to train AI on scripts by union members without permission. Negotiations between the directors' union and the actors' union have also focused on this point, with the former asking for confirmation that AI cannot replace directors' union members in the performance of their duties, and the latter stating that the use of actors' likenesses for AI training without permission is prohibited.

Hollywood's attitude toward AI has been ambiguous. Some actors have allowed AI to clone their voices after they die, such as James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" series. But put into the broader film and television industry, the impact of technology needs to be clearly seen in a broader perspective to avoid infringing on the interests of different groups.

It's hard to predict when this strike will end; the WGA's strike in 1988 lasted 153 days, and the 2007 strike, which lasted from November to February of the following year, before the two sides reached an agreement. It is worth mentioning that both strikes were also due to the emergence of new technologies, the first being video tapes, the second DVDs, and this time AI.

As Brian Arthur concludes in The Nature of Technology, the economy responds to the emergence of new bodies of technology by changing the way activities are conducted, the composition of industries, and institutional arrangements, that is, the economy changes its structure in response to new bodies of technology. The new technologies will stir up the old patterns and naturally bring new problems and conflicts, which will be an eternal topic. No matter how it ends, the outcome of this negotiation will also change the industry forever, just like the previous two.

The "Hollywood Strike" that the whole world is watching is still going on.

The strike, which began on May 2, 2023, is the largest ever in Hollywood. Close to two months have passed, not only no fire trend, but also intensified - from the initial 11,000 writers involved, gradually involved in a number of actors and actresses, including directors and unions. A number of popular programs and series stop broadcasting, stop filming, the entire U.S. film and television industry into chaos.

On June 21, thousands of writers' union members marched in Pan Pacific Park in the Fairfax, Virginia area, the latest development in the current strike action.

A "pre-publicized" strike action

The strike started simply because the writers' union, the WGA, failed to agree on a new contract with the AMPTP, which represents several major Hollywood studios - the Writers Guild of America, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Guild of America), the latter is the "Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers" (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers).

As early as April this year, 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if the new contract was not signed. As a result, after the old contract expired on May 1, a new one was not in sight, so the strike began the next day. Because the main participants were mainly Hollywood writers and actors, the strike action was called the "Hollywood Strike".

The WGA demanded a total pay raise of nearly $600 million for the writers, but the AMPTP rejected the demand, and the camp behind the AMPTP includes major companies and platforms such as Amazon, Disney, Universal Pictures, Paramount and Apple.

Hollywood has had many strikes in its history, and each one has had a huge impact on the U.S. film and television industry. The last writers' strike of the same scale occurred in 2007 and lasted for 100 days, causing more than $3 billion in economic losses in California alone, with several shows, including Grey's Anatomy and Desperado, affected, cancelled or delayed.

This strike was no exception. In addition to the suspension of several nightly talk shows such as "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" and "Weekend Night Live," according to the Washington Post, more than two dozen film and television episodes or projects have been affected, including the ongoing final season of "Stranger Things," sequels to "Avatar" and "Star Wars," the "Game of Thrones" spinoff "Knights of the Seven Kingdoms" and more. [1] Because of the lack of writers, these episodes could not continue to be filmed, and some nightly shows were replaced with reruns of old shows for the time being.

Due to the spillover effect of the strike, film and television-related industries were also affected. People working in the industry, including prop production companies, equipment companies, transportation drivers, and even catering staff on set, may lose their jobs.

The writers' strike of 2007 has contributed to the rise of reality TV shows that rely less on scripts, such as the worldwide hit "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which was a product of the strike.

In addition to writers, Hollywood actors and directors are negotiating a new round of contracts with the AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing 160,000 film and television actors, is negotiating with the AMPTP over a contract that is set to expire on June 30. Union members voted overwhelmingly (98 percent) to authorize union leaders to also strike, as the writers did, if a new contract is not reached by June 30.

The actors' strike will lead to a broader shutdown in Hollywood, and the two sides have now been in contract negotiations since June 7. The Directors Guild of America (DGA), on the other hand, has reached an agreement with AMPTP that includes salary increases (12.5% over 3 years) and benefits packages, increased streaming content splits, and prevention of AI abuse, among other things.

It is worth noting that the DGA was the first to negotiate a contract during the strike action in 2007, and the writers were forced to agree to similar terms and hastily end the strike.

But judging from the current direction, the drama won't repeat itself, and this time the writers don't seem to be planning to compromise.

In the age of streaming, a new labor conflict

According to a previous report released by the WGA, the median weekly salary for writer-producers has fallen 23 percent over the past decade. Meanwhile, nearly half (49 percent) of U.S. writers are receiving minimum wage, and their pay rates have risen by 16 percent from just 10 years ago. [2]

This sounds mind-boggling. After all, the past decade has also been a decade of rapid growth and takedown of streaming platforms. Netflix has hit one statistical miracle after another and taken over half of Hollywood, with a huge number of series being developed, filmed, and aired, generating huge profits, and correspondingly, production investment is rising. However, the income received by writers is quite small, and has even been shrinking.

This has to mention the impact of the streaming platform on the traditional production model, and the resulting decline in income for writers and other issues.

In the film and TV production industry, the traditional model is that writers are hired to write scripts, then receive an advance and a final payment when the show is rebroadcast. A show would employ about 7-12 writers who would spend about 20 weeks in the writer's room to write a full script.

But in the age of streaming, the writer's room has become a mini room. Producers often ask writers to complete an outline, or a script for a pilot episode, first. The subsequent production of the script may be irrelevant to the writer - either the whole project will be stopped due to the poor reception of the pilot episode, or the producer will hire a lower-priced junior writer to finish the rest of the script based on the outline. From the producer's perspective, this model is less expensive, but for the writers, it means lower paychecks and no job security.

Even with the opportunity to write an entire season, writers can earn less than ever before. The reason for this is that due to the nature of streaming platforms, episodes tend to be very short and have fewer episodes. Generally speaking, the number of episodes of traditional American dramas is around 20, but streaming episodes will generally be 6-8 episodes. At the same time, scripts are produced at a much faster pace, with writers often working for 6-9 months in the traditional model, while streaming reduces the production time to a few weeks. This means great work pressure on one hand, and on the other hand, it means that writers' basic benefits are not guaranteed. Because the actual hours of work are reduced, and the producers only provide benefits coverage when the writers are working for them.

As screenwriter Ellie Adelson says, the screenwriting industry is going from a stable middle-class life to a very precarious one, almost a zero-work economy.

According to the WGA, the lowest weekly salary for a screenwriter is only $4,546. While that may not sound like a small number, it's important to know that writers don't receive a regular salary and are only available for a very limited period of time during the year," said Chris Keyser, co-chair of the WGA negotiating committee. us to the brink of survival." [3]

The WGA is also pushing for improvements in other areas, such as fighting for higher residual pay and calling for an industry standard for the number of writers per show. To prevent producers from hiring writers from outside the union to write scripts to break the strike, the WGA said writers who worked for the producers during this time would be ineligible to enter the union.

It's worth noting that many writers are also threatening to dramatize already-written episodes if a new deal is delayed.

AI-generated content that became the focus of the strike

In addition to the impact brought by streaming platforms, AI, especially AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content), has become the core of this conflict.

ChatGPT, which has been gaining attention since early 2023, has affected Hollywood and the entire film and television industry. Marvel's latest airing of the film and TV series "Secret Invasion" has already used AI in the production process to generate the opening credits and has been subject to controversy.

For screenwriters, the already meager benefits can hardly withstand the impact of AI employment replacement. At the same time, the AI trains a library of existing scripts that make up a large portion of it. This is equivalent to the AI stealing the fruits of a screenwriter's labor without any payment. Therefore, the various demands against AI have become the core of what the multiple subjects in this strike are fighting for.

The writers' union WGA demanded during negotiations that the AI not be allowed to receive bylines and that writers not be required to make changes based on what the AI has written, as this would also significantly reduce the number of hours worked. At the same time, producers are not allowed to train AI on scripts by union members without permission. Negotiations between the directors' union and the actors' union have also focused on this point, with the former asking for confirmation that AI cannot replace directors' union members in the performance of their duties, and the latter stating that the use of actors' likenesses for AI training without permission is prohibited.

Hollywood's attitude toward AI has been ambiguous. Some actors have allowed AI to clone their voices after they die, such as James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" series. But put into the broader film and television industry, the impact of technology needs to be clearly seen in a broader perspective to avoid infringing on the interests of different groups.

It's hard to predict when this strike will end; the WGA's strike in 1988 lasted 153 days, and the 2007 strike, which lasted from November to February of the following year, before the two sides reached an agreement. It is worth mentioning that both strikes were also due to the emergence of new technologies, the first being video tapes, the second DVDs, and this time AI.

As Brian Arthur concludes in The Nature of Technology, the economy responds to the emergence of new bodies of technology by changing the way activities are conducted, the composition of industries, and institutional arrangements, that is, the economy changes its structure in response to new bodies of technology. The new technologies will stir up the old patterns and naturally bring new problems and conflicts, which will be an eternal topic. No matter how it ends, the outcome of this negotiation will also change the industry forever, just like the previous two.