On May 2, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike. The dispute is in its early days, and here is how it will affect your favorite TV shows and movies in 2024.
The Writers Guild of America is a labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media in the United States. On April 18, 97% of the WGA members voted to go on strike if they failed to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP. This alliance represents Amazon Studios, Apple Studios, Netflix, and Walt Disney Company, among other major studios. No agreement was reached, and the WGA is officially on strike.
The WGA went on strike for the last time between November 2007 and February 2008. During this time, some major productions were affected, including Heroes, The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, and Family Guy.
At the time of this publication, the list of productions shut down includes Big Mouth, Cobra Kai, Abbott Elementary, and Yellowjackets. The list of talk shows shut down includes Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. More productions are expected to shut down in the upcoming weeks.
Through Twitter, members of the WGA have shared their list of demands. Their goal is to protect writers by ensuring they are compensated fairly.
Streaming affects the income of writers that have stopped receiving residuals for these shows. On top of that, studios are reducing the budgets for writers’ rooms, significantly decreasing the number of writers who get hired per production. In simple terms, writers are expected to work more and get paid less.
The WGA strike will affect productions in different ways. Starting with upcoming seasons that were in development, these will be delayed until further notice.
TV shows that are scheduled to premiere in 2023 could be pushed to 2024 and beyond. Since studios don’t know when will writers be back, they must ensure new content for 2024. It wouldn’t be surprising if Marvel shows in Disney+ like Agatha: Coven of Chaos get delayed.
Other productions like House of the Dragon Season 2 won’t be affected by the strike and are moving forward as scheduled. While this might sound like good news, the truth is, having no writers will affect the quality of any upcoming season.
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