From May 2 to September 27, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Lasting 148 days, the strike is tied with the 1960 strike as the second-longest labor stoppage actioned by the WGA, only behind the 1988 strike (153 days). Alongside the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which lasted between July and November, it was part of a series of broader Hollywood labor disputes. Both strikes contributed to the biggest interruption to the American film and television industries since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The strike caused significant economic impact: some studios halted ongoing or future productions or reduced some staff, while certain production agreements were jeopardized as some studios were able to use force majeure clauses to terminate those agreements. Strike action also affected other areas of the entertainment ecosystem, including the VFX industry and prop making studios.
After a tentative agreement, union leadership voted to end the strike starting from September 27, 2023. On October 9, the WGA membership officially ratified the contract with 99% of WGA members voting in favor of it. The WGA secured increases to minimum wage, final compensation, pension and health fund rates, improvements to terms related to length of employment and size of writing teams, and increases to residual payments for domestic and foreign streaming works. The union also secured regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), prohibiting exploitation of writers' material to train AI models, produce digital recreations, and efforts to use AI to reduce writers or their pay.
Issues in the strike
One of the main points of disagreement between the writers and the producers was the residuals from streaming media; the WGA claimed that the AMPTP's share of such residuals had cut much of the writers' average incomes compared to a decade prior. Writers also wanted strict and harsh limits on generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT. They were willing to concede that writers themselves may have uses for such technology, but they demanded that the Agreement state that genAI would not be used to replace writers.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath saw major reductions in the workforce and cancellations of multiple film and television projects to save money on basic residuals and music licensing costs, though Apple and Amazon remained outliers. The ensuing fall of "Peak TV" worsened conditions for all filmmaking workers, but due to their roles in development and pre-production, the first two steps in the filmmaking process, writers were hit fastest.
On May 2, 2020, the latest Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) became the collective bargaining agreement that covered most of the work done by WGA writers. The Minimum Basic Agreement was an agreement that established a minimum wage for television and film writers. In television, the Minimum Basic Agreement only applied to those who wrote for broadcast television shows and not for streaming television. This was very clear when comparing late-night talk shows that were produced for broadcast television, such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert by CBS, versus The Problem with Jon Stewart, produced for streaming by Apple TV+. The writers who worked for The Problem were not covered by the MBA and therefore had to negotiate individually with the streaming company for their pay, and as a result, they were paid less than writers who wrote for The Late Show while doing the same amount of work. This pattern held true with other shows in the two categories. The MBA expired on May 1, 2023.
The WGA estimated that its proposals would yield writers about US$429 million a year, whereas the AMPTP's offer would yield $86 million.
One disputed issue is the Guild wanting requirements for "mandatory staffing" and "duration of employment" terms to be added to their contract, which would require all shows to be staffed with a minimum number of writers for a minimum amount of time, "whether needed or not" per the AMPTP.
Another important proposal that the WGA is advocating for is to ensure each member of a writing team receives their own pension and their own health care funds. The AMPTP rejected this proposal and did not offer a counterproposal. At the same time, there was a tentative agreement between the WGA and AMPTP to have 0.5% of negotiated minimums for all WGA minimums shifted into pensions and health funds.
Timeline of negotiations and strike activity
April 2023
On April 18, 2023, 97.85% of members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted to go on strike if they failed to reach a satisfactory agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the major film and television studios in Hollywood, by May 1. The AMPTP engaged in lengthy negotiations with the WGA on behalf of Amazon Studios (as well as MGM Holdings), Apple Studios, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures, the Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), but failed to reach a deal before the mandated deadline.
May 2023
As a result, the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) unanimously approved a strike on the eve of May 2, the first of its kind since the 2007–2008 strike fifteen years prior.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that the WGA had set some prospective rules for writers during the strike. The Writers Guild stated that "writers cannot do any writing, revising, pitching, or discussing future projects with companies that are members of the AMPTP."
The Writers Guild also stated that fiction podcasts that are produced by companies against which the Guild and its members are striking must stop production. The Guild said that they hoped that writers of animated series not covered by the Writers Guild but by the Animation Guild would seek advice from the Writers Guild on whether or not their work as a writer was counter to the activities of the strike and, if so, to cease such work for the duration of the strike. The Guild noted that while they cannot punish non-Guild writers who write for companies against which the union is striking, they promise to bar such writers from future Guild membership.
The WGA instructed members to begin picketing on May 2, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. PDT. Some places that the WGA has picketed include AMC Networks, Amazon/Culver Studios, MGM, CBS Radford, CBS Television City, Disney, 20th Century Studios, Lionsgate, Starz, Netflix, Paramount, MTV, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. (including its Burbank division), 30 Rock/NBCUniversal, Broadway Stages, HBO, Silvercup Studios, Steiner Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront.
During the strike, the WGA instructed writers facing financial hardship due to the strike to apply to the Entertainment Community Fund. The Entertainment Community Fund helps people in the entertainment industry with financial trouble find affordable housing and maintain health care and senior care coverage. On May 10, 2023, it was reported that writers had pledged $1.7 million to the Entertainment Community Fund. Among the prominent donors were showrunners and producers J. J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti, Adam McKay, Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes, Michael Schur, and John Wells.
June 2023
On June 7 and 8, 2023, picketing in the Northeast (namely in New York) was paused due to poor air quality from the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Strike activity resumed on the 9th when air quality improved.
On June 9, 2023, Lionsgate suspended BMF line producer Ian Woolf following an altercation with striking writers who were picketing outside of BMF's production headquarters. According to first-hand accounts from writers Gabriel Alejandro Garza and Tom Smuts, Woolf attempted to intimidate Garza and Brian Egeston, who were picketing on the sidewalk next to the studio's entrance, by accelerating his car towards them and stopping just short of hitting them. After first claiming that he did not see them, Woolf later admitted to trying to scare them. According to Smuts, Woolf later unsuccessfully tried to convince Teamsters Local 728 to cross picket lines, but they refused. Lionsgate released a statement saying, "We take acts of intimidation and threats of violence seriously and investigate them thoroughly... As we continue to investigate, we have sent home the individual involved." The WGA also released a statement, which read, "Workers should not be threatened with physical harm when exercising their right to publicly protest and picket against unfair wages and working conditions."
July 2023
On July 12, 2023, Deadline Hollywood reported that the AMPTP and the major Hollywood studios did not plan to return to negotiations with the WGA until late October 2023 at the earliest. The studio executives who anonymously spoke with Deadline stated that by October, many writers would be financially strained to the point where they would lose their housing, which they believed would allow them to be in a better position to dictate the terms of any new deal. Representatives for the AMPTP distanced themselves from the anonymous sources, claiming they remained committed to signing a deal as soon as possible.
August 2023
On August 1, 2023, the WGA announced that it would meet with the AMPTP on the following Friday to discuss negotiations regarding the strike. The location of the meeting was not disclosed. A spokesman for the AMPTP, speaking in relation to the strikes of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, said, "we remain committed to finding a path to mutually beneficial deals with both unions." Both parties met on August 4, 2023, but no agreement was reached.
On August 10, 2023, the AMPTP and the WGA agreed to resume contract negotiations, with the first meeting set for August 11. After that meeting, the Writers Guild sent a note to its 11,500 members saying the AMPTP had indicated a willingness to make concessions in some areas, including finding ways to safeguard writers from artificial intelligence technology. The note added, however, that the AMPTP had said studios "were not willing to engage" on other Writers Guild proposals, including success-based residual payments from streaming services. The note said guild leaders would not return to negotiations until studios were willing to engage on all proposals. Later on the same day the WGA sent a message to members saying that they had received a counterproposal and were evaluating it.
On August 21, 2023, picketing was canceled in Los Angeles due to Hurricane Hilary. The union, meanwhile, remained relatively silent beyond the message of August 18, 2023: "Everybody is trying to step up and make a resolution," one executive told THR. "There's more positive momentum this week than last." On August 22, 2023, AMPTP presented a proposal suggesting rules for AI content, but talks between the studios and the writers remained at a stalemate until late September. On August 30, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma sent letters to Netflix, The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple Inc., Paramount Global and Amazon, telling them to return to negotiations and settle the strikes. She states that the impact of the strikes "paralyzes Hollywood and reverberates across the state, affecting countless businesses, thousands of pension fund beneficiaries, and millions of Californians."
September 2023
On September 6, Warner Bros. suspended deals with Mindy Kaling, J. J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti, and Bill Lawrence. It had announced the day before that the strikes would impact its 2023 earnings by $500 million.
On September 8, the WGA released a statement claiming that there are member companies that have shown a "desire and willingness to negotiate an agreement that adequately addresses writers' issues... [and who] have said they are willing to negotiate on proposals that the AMPTP has presented to the public as deal breakers," and that they have asked them to leave the AMPTP in order to negotiate independently with the WGA. A few hours later, the AMPTP released a statement refuting that claim, saying, "The AMPTP member companies are aligned and are negotiating together to reach a resolution. Any suggestion to the contrary is false."
On September 11, 2023, The Drew Barrymore Show resumed episodes without writers and was picketed by guild members. Two audience members were turned away for wearing WGA pins. Barrymore would be removed as host of the upcoming 74th National Book Awards the following day. On September 17, Barrymore changed her decision and announced that the show would remain on hiatus while the strike was ongoing.
On September 12, in an interview with TheWrap, a studio executive said that "the showrunners are quite pissed [...] they are mad at the guilds and feel that they are not responding to the studios' offer. Now even the higher-paid members of the guild are expressing concern over the inability to end the strike." In addition, while there were plans for a meeting between the WGA and top showrunners on September 15, the meeting was cancelled on that day due to plans for an upcoming meeting between the WGA and AMPTP the following week.