What's in the New WGA Contract?

The WGA strike is over, and assuming the membership ratifies it, there is a new agreement between the Writer’s Guild of America and the AMPTP, the studio’s collective bargaining representative. But what' does the new agreement say and what does it change in Hollywood?

Pay

The new contract includes a 5% immediate increase in the minimum pay for WGA members, with additional smaller increases in 2024 and 2025. Studio contribution to the Health and Pension Plan also increased 0.5%.

Residuals

Television has changed a lot since the last WGA deal, with most people watching via streaming services. This has cut into residuals. The new deal requires streamers to let WGA know some of their viewership numbers. Based on a number of factors including viewership, writers will now receive increased residuals payments for successful streaming projects.

Artificial Intelligence

Going in, this was one of the more uncertain avenues in the WGA’s conflict with the studios. No one knows exactly how AI will change the industry moving forward. What we do know is that, under this contract, AI cannot re-write a writer’s work. AI can also not receive writing credit, something that many worried the studios would do, having AI write a treatment, calling the author’s contributions a re-write, and using that as an excuse to credit and pay them less.

A writer may use AI themselves in developing material, but cannot be required to do so.

Writer’s Rooms

Shows now have to employ more writers, based on the length of the season, and for longer. This excludes shows written entirely by one person.

The deal is more than 90 pages long, so this doesn’t cover everything. But it hits on the primary points of conflict that led to the strike in the first place. If you are a writer in need of legal representation, reach out to The Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy, and best of luck getting back to work.

WGA Reaches Tentative Deal with Studios

After almost 150 days on strike, the Writers Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement witht he AMPTP, the organization that represents the major studios. We still don’t know what’s the terms are as the parties work out the language, and it will need to be ratified by the WGA’s members. But this likely means the end of the strike is coming.

SAG remains on strike for the time being, and just authorized expanding it to video game voice actors.

Writers Guild Goes on Strike

As of midnight today, the Writers Guild of America has voted to go on strike. WGA members demands range many issues, but primarily focus on pay and residulas. The median pay for a film and TV writer has declined 4% over the last few years in the midst of rising inflation. Writers are also working fewer hours on each production. The WGA hopes to turn these trends around. Of primary concern is the payment of residuals in a streaming world; the last major negotiations took place before streaming became the way most people watch television. The Guild also seeks limits on the use of AI in generating writing material, something that comes with a number of legal hurdles we’ve discussed on this blog, but will becoming an increasing concern in the coming years.

The last time the WGA went on strike in 2007 it changed the industry. It remains to be seen what changes arise from this new strike. If you are a writer with legal concerns, contact the Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy.