Awards
The Writers Guild Awards And The Union’s Strike
On the 15th of February, members of the Writers Guild of America met once again to discuss their demands. Back in 2007-2008, the writers went on a hundred-day strike to get better pay from streaming services. While back then, they won, new challenges have presented themselves, which make it even more difficult for writers to make ends meet.
Now, various winners and nominees at the Writer’s Guild Awards discuss a future strike once the contract between studios and the writers expires on May 1st. Currently, studios, streamers, and the guild are all negotiating their options which will hopefully result in a resolution by 20th March.
The Award Ceremony
The Writer’s Guild Awards took place on Sunday evening on, the 5th of March. Some of the winners include Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for the Original Screenplay of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Sarah Polley for the Adapted Screenplay of Women Talking, and Mike White for the Limited Series, The White Lotus. Many of the winners talked about how sticking together as a guild can bring forth great changes. But what is the strike all about?
Basically, one of the few demands is to increase the payment writers make from residuals. Residuals are what writers get paid when a television show is being re-run on TV. With streaming services taking over, shows are streamed on loops endlessly, and while writers still receive a payment, it’s agreed upon that the money is too less than what it should be. Negotiations are going on, but many fear another major writer’s strike, which has the potential to shut down Hollywood for good.
Daniel Kwan motivated attending members saying that the night was all about the call to action for all writers and served as “an example of what’s possible when people stick together.” Sarah Polley, who won for Women Talking, also lauded the writers and talked about how the story of her film was all about “envisioning and taking responsibility for the possibilities of a better future,” she further said, “That is the job of a union, and I wish everyone in this room courage and hope and solidarity for the months ahead as a potential strike comes into view.”
David Goodman, the former WGA West president, also came to the stage to accept his award for TV & New Media Motion Pictures. Goodman is also co-chair and a major part of the ongoing negotiations between the union and Hollywood. He spoke of the former WGA chief negotiator, David Young, and quoted him saying:
“We may be small, but we’re alone,” which made the halls echo with laughter. The fight of the writers is hard and filled with the struggle for endurance. It can often feel very isolating and exploitative when major studios like Disney and Apple are all in the mix.
The union has drafted a list of their demands, and some attendees, including Andor’s Tony Gilroy, feel a little confused about them. Gilroy was nominated for New as well as Drama series categories. Here’s what he had to say:
There’s probably a couple of things I wish were in there that aren’t; there’s probably some things in there that I don’t understand that are very valuable.” He said, “There are a lot of different disciplines and a lot of different things that build the guild now, so there are separate constituencies and different groups that need to be taken care of at different times.”
Since the guild is so massive, it’s obvious that a lot of writers from different backgrounds working in different fields need help. It can cause a major disconnect between them, but it’s all for the best.
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