Students, faculty breathe sigh of relief as writers’ strike ends
The deal addresses the size of writers’ rooms, residuals and AI usage in scripts.
By DAVID RENDON
The Writers Guild of America’s 148-day strike was declared over after the WGA reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Sept. 27. Guild members still need to vote on ratifying the contract, a process that will take place between Oct. 2 and Oct. 9.
Anita Dashiell-Sparks, a professor of theatre practice in acting and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists member, said the strike was important because the time and energy put into creative work needs to be valued and honored.
“Being creatives and being artists … is really at a crossroads in terms of a viable career, where people can live upon the earnings from their creative work and their creative labor,” Dashiell-Sparks said. “That honestly has been what has been at stake.”
Colton Casella, a senior majoring in writing for screen and television, said he was concerned when the strike was announced because he wasn’t sure if the industry he was entering would support him and his peers.
“If this is going to be our career, how viable will that be towards making a living?” Casella said. “And then if we wanted to continue to create or even to do what the faculty have done and come back and teach it? Is that still going to be a path? Is that going to be the only path to make money, academia?”
David Isaacs — a professor of screen and television writing, the chair of the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television and a WGA member — felt much more confident in the negotiations, assuming they had gotten a foothold on the major issues. He felt that the three biggest issues were revenue from streaming, extending the contracts of writers and regulation for the use of artificial intelligence.
“When I saw the first initial email from the guild to its members, they said it was, if I’m not mistaken, exceptional,” Isaacs said. “To use that adjective was pretty stunning. Because they don’t say that unless you really got an exceptional deal, so I was very excited when I saw that.”
Once the details of the deal were released to the members of the guild, he realized the deal went beyond what he thought they would get. The deal includes a minimum size for writers’ rooms, improved residuals and the guild has the ultimate decision on whether or not to use AI. Though Isaacs was unable to attend the WGA meeting Sept. 27, he heard that the negotiation team got a 10-minute standing ovation.
“These are writers; they’re not always easy to please,” Isaacs said. “If a writer gives you a standing ovation, that’s the highest form of flattery there could possibly be.”
When it comes time to vote, Isaacs plans to vote to ratify the deal.
The deal provides professional writers more security and prospects for a sustainable livelihood working in the entertainment industry. (Sarah Ruiz / Daily Trojan)
When Casella saw the deal, he felt it answered his question of job security. He said he is also excited to see whether the deal will create a more creative-focused industry or if it’ll encourage the same style of content but with more writer-focused provisions.
Chris Allport, a graduate student studying writing for screen and television, was similarly grateful that the strike had been successful and that he was entering Hollywood supported by the new measures.
“I feel very lucky to be entering into an industry now that has far more built-in protections and makes the livelihood of being a professional screenwriter more sustainable,” he said.
Though the WGA strike is over, the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing. SAG-AFTRA, the screen actors guild, has been on strike since July 14, hoping to receive more residuals from streaming and protections against AI. SAG-AFTRA will likely use the details of the WGA deal to strategize and strengthen their own argument, Dashiell-Sparks said. As well as fair and equitable pay, SAG-AFTRA is trying to protect the rights, likeness and voice of actors in relation to AI technology.
“Those negotiating points that are a part of the WGA agreement will serve as foundational, leveraging negotiating points,” Dashiell-Sparks said. “It’s a major turning point and leveraging point for the SAG-AFTRA members.”
The strike has allowed the general public to take a peek behind the Hollywood curtain and see how creatives are treated and how their creative property isn’t valued, Dashiell-Sparks said.
“Those deal points have not been drafted with the creative’s best interest in mind,” she said. “It actually has been the executives. And so this moment has really lifted the veil on those kinds of inequities and disparities that actually have been going on.”
Isaacs hopes that the WGA strike will serve as a catalyst for unions to receive equal pay for their work, and wants others to see the WGA make large corporations bend to their wishes and give writers what they deserve.
Angie Antoine, a graduate student studying writing for screen and television, plans on continuing to picket for SAG-AFTRA if a deal isn’t reached.
“I just hope there’s going to be a ripple effect throughout not just the entertainment industry but in industries across America,” she said. “These corporations need to be reminded that people are at the heart of everything they do.”
