Streaming broke the career ladder, striking Hollywood writers say
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[May 08, 2023]
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ronald D. Moore started his television writing
career in 1989 in a junior-level job on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
before he rose through the ranks to produce hits such as "Battlestar
Galactica" and "Outlander."
That path to success is hard to find in today's Hollywood, Moore and
other writers say, and is one reason the Writers Guild of America (WGA)
called a strike that began May 2 and has shut down late-night television
and threatens to undermine the crucial fall TV season.
"If I was starting today, it would be a much harder business than when I
started my career," Moore, 58, said while picketing outside Comcast
Corp's Universal Studios in Burbank, California.
How to train and support a new generation of writers is a sticking point
in contract negotiations between the WGA, which represents 11,500 film
and TV writers, and Hollywood's major studios. Both sides agree that
changes brought by TV's streaming revolution have reduced opportunities
to work on sets and see first-hand how television is made.
A decade ago when broadcast shows dominated television, seasons
typically ran for 22 episodes. After one or two were written, filming
would start and the writing team would go to the set to help with
rewrites and production. Eventually, they could work their way up to
running their own series.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/08/images/ads/current/heartlandcollege_lda_050123.png)
Netflix Inc and other streaming services began crafting shorter series
in "mini rooms" with fewer writers. For a streaming show, 10 to 12
episodes are written all at once, and many of the writers are dismissed
before filming begins.
While reducing their potential pay, this system also "is limiting the
experience levels of those writers," said John August, a member of the
WGA negotiating team. "They're not going to learn how to make a show."
COLLABORATION WITH ACTORS
Writers often rework scripts during production, for various reasons. An
outdoor scene, for example, could be moved inside because of bad
weather, requiring changes, said "Boardwalk Empire" writer Cristine
Chambers. Input from actors can lead to revisions.
"Having the ability to talk to actors changes the script," Chambers
said. "Suddenly I'm seeing something from (the actor's) point of view.
It's a collaboration."
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![](../images/050823PIX/ent_a.59.jpg)
Workers and supporters of the Writers
Guild of America picket outside Sunset Bronson Studios and Netflix
Studios, after union negotiators called a strike for film and
television writers, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 3, 2023.
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/08/images/ads/current/businessdirectory_dailycover_2023.png) Hollywood studios made a proposal to
help early-career scribes. They suggested having a showrunner
identify a promising writer to bring to the set, similar to a
Directors Guild of America program, according to a source with
knowledge of the talks. The younger writer would be paid a stipend.
The WGA, however, is seeking a requirement for at least six TV
writers per series, with half of them being employed throughout the
production. To the studios, that requirement is impractical and
could lead to writers being paid for months while waiting for
filming to start.
"These proposals require the employment of writers whether they're
needed for the creative process or not," said the Alliance of Motion
Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group negotiating on
behalf of Walt Disney Co, Universal, Netflix and other studios.
"It is in reality a hiring quota that is incompatible with the
creative nature of our industry," the AMPTP added.
The studios have offered increases in wage and residual payments to
address complaints that writers are working more and making less,
and that compensation is not high enough for many writers to make a
living wage in New York and Los Angeles.
The WGA is asking for larger pay raises than the studios have
proposed and rewards for writers with more experience.
Now, half of all writers work at minimum salary levels, the WGA
said. "The companies have turned the ladder of economic success for
writers into a step stool," said Chris Keyser said, co-chair of the
WGA negotiating committee.
On the picket lines, aspiring writers such as 25-year-old Carrie
Smith have joined WGA members, hoping to help the Guild secure a
deal with better terms to help them build a career.
"I want to be part of fighting for a better future," Smith said
while holding a "Writers Guild of America On Strike" sign. "You
can't climb a broken ladder."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mary Milliken and Diane
Craft)
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