WGA strike pushes into third week; no word of negotiating progress

The Writers Guild of America strike against Hollywood studios pushed into its third week Monday, with no word on any renewed labor talks or any movement toward a resolution of a walkout that has ground entertainment production to a halt.

Picketers returned Monday morning to Amazon Studio in Culver City, CBS' Studio City lot, Television City, The Walt Disney Co.'s corporate headquarters in Burbank, the Fox Studios lot, Netflix's Hollywood headquarters, Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Sony Studios in Culver City, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. in Burbank.

On Friday, the Tony Awards ceremony in New York became the latest victim of the strike, with the WGA denying a request for a waiver that would have allowed the show to be broadcast as scheduled. According to various reports, organizers of the show met Monday to consider their options for the event, and ultimately decided to make another appeal to the WGA on behalf of the show.

Earlier reports out of New York suggested the committee might consider other options such as scaling back the event to a non-televised dinner, postponing the show until the strike ends or simply holding a news conference to announce the winners.

The 2023 Tony Awards was set to air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on June 11, with Ariana DeBose set to host.

The strike, which began May 2 previously scrubbed production on late night talk shows and "Saturday Night Live," all of which have gone into reruns during the strike. Last week's "MTV Movie & TV Awards" event in Santa Monica was canceled in favor of a pre-taped event due to celebrities unwilling to cross WGA picket lines.

Also last week, Vice President Kamala Harris backed out of her planned appearance at an MTV mental health awareness event in Carson set for Thursday of this week to avoid conflict with the WGA strike.

Harris was set to appear alongside a surprise celebrity guest and young leaders at a Cal State Dominguez Hills town hall to raise awareness of Mental Health Action Day.

The last WGA strike lasted from November 2007 until February 2008. Industry experts estimated the 100-day strike cost the local economy between $2 billion and $3 billion. With both sides appearing to still be at loggerheads, many observers fear the current walkout could last even longer.

The WGA is pushing for improvements on a variety of fronts, notably for higher residual pay for streaming programs that have larger viewership, rather than the existing model that pays a standard rate regardless of a show's success.

The union is also calling for industry standards on the number of writers assigned to each show, increases in foreign streaming residuals and regulations preventing the use of artificial intelligence technology to write or rewrite any literary material.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood studios, issued a position paper earlier this month outlining its take on some key negotiating points in the labor impasse. Responding to a union demand for minimum staffing levels and employment guarantees, the alliance said such a move would "require the employment of writers whether they're needed for the creative process or not."

The alliance also pushed back on the issue of streaming residuals, saying the union's most recent contract gave writers a 46% increase in streaming residuals taking effect in 2022 -- increases that some writers may only now be seeing in their paychecks. The alliance contends the union's proposal would represent a 200% increase over current residual rates.

It also called for "a lot more discussion" on the issue of artificial intelligence, and suggested writers "want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined."

"The AMPTP member companies remain united in their desire to reach a deal that is mutually beneficial to writers and the health and longevity of the industry, and to avoid hardship to the thousands of employees who depend upon the industry for their livelihoods," said an alliance statement issued when the strike was announced. "The AMPTP is willing to engage in discussions with the WGA in an effort to break this logjam."

Last week, the AMPTP also began labor talks with the Directors Guild of America, which is seeking to address many of the same issues involved in the WGA stalemate. The DGA's contract with AMPTP expires June 30.

On June 7, the AMPTP is scheduled to begin negotiations with the SAG- AFTRA actors' union, which has already come out in strong support of the striking writers.

"We are united in support of the WGA and I thank all of the SAG-AFTRA members who are showing solidarity with their strike," SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher wrote in a message to its membership on Friday. "For those who haven't yet been able to do so, I hope you will join me and others in supporting the writers on a picket line.

"... As a member of the WGA, I can say firsthand the contributions made by writers cannot be undermined, diminished or cheapened. I've said it a thousand times, `If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage!"'