Hollywood: Screenwriters to go on strike for first time in 15 years

A strike by thousands of Hollywood screenwriters for television and film is scheduled to begin on Tuesday as a result of failed salary negotiations with major studios.

Beginning on Tuesday, thousands of writers for movies and television shows will walk out in protest as Hollywood struggles to adapt to the seismic shifts brought on by the global streaming TV boom.

A Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, the first in 15 years, is expected, with more than 9,000 writers nearly 98% of voting members set to walk out.

The WGA called its first work stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement for higher pay from studios such as Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and Netflix Inc (NFLX.O). The last strike lasted 100 days and cost the California economy more than $2 billion.

It could see late-night shows come to a halt from midnight, while forthcoming shows and films could face delays.

In 2007, writers went on strike for 100 days, at a cost of about $2bn.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which stands in for the major studios like Disney and Netflix this time around, is in conflict with writers over demands for more pay and a bigger cut of the revenues from the current streaming boom.

How authors get compensated for shows that frequently linger on streaming services for years, as well as the potential effects of artificial intelligence on writing, have been major topics of discussion.

The studios have stated jointly that they must reduce expenses owing to mounting financial challenges, while also pointing out that the total “residuals” payouts to authors reached an all-time high of $494 million in 2021.

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