After the Writers Guild of America introduced a tentative settlement with the studios and declared that their strike was over as of 12:01 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, guild management and others heralded the deal as “transformative.” Writers can return to work and are anticipated to ratify the contract in October.
In the meantime, SAG-AFTRA members stay on strike because the actors haven’t but reached an settlement with the studios. Their management congratulated their “union siblings” at WGA on the deal. Positive sufficient, by some metrics the WGA gained so much: all kinds of will increase in compensation and advantages in addition to minimal staffing necessities for TV writers’ rooms and a few protections round AI.
But this deal is just not as transformative appropriately. Streaming is the place the leisure business has gone and continues to see development. That’s the place the cash is, however the present cost system doesn’t replicate that. Thus the core of the WGA settlement needs to be about streaming residuals. The union had a historic alternative — notably as a result of its strike was paired with SAG-AFTRA’s — to utterly revamp these residuals and switch screenwriting right into a long-term, sustainable occupation once more.
As an alternative, the WGA obtained viewership-based streaming bonuses and a few quantity of knowledge sharing. In impact it gave up on getting more cash for writers from reveals that carry out effectively in change for minimal transparency from streaming companies on viewership.
Have a look at the contract language round information sharing by the streamers: “Firms agree to supply the Guild, topic to a confidentiality settlement, the overall variety of hours streamed, each domestically and internationally, of self-produced excessive finances streaming applications (e.g., a Netflix unique collection). Aggregated data may be shared.”
This isn’t utilizing information on hours streamed and giving residuals based mostly on it, because the WGA initially proposed. It’s offering information on hours streamed and — doing nothing with it. The contract does create bonuses for top viewership, however just for productions that clear an enormous hurdle: They should be considered by 20% or extra of the service’s home subscribers within the first 90 days of launch (or within the first 90 days of what the contract calls “any subsequent exhibition 12 months”). One-time bonuses should not residuals, and consider all of the reveals that get tens of millions of viewers however simply don’t make that threshold; these writers get nothing for his or her success.
The guild could have settled for this change considering that within the subsequent cycle they might argue for extra. However the battle is just not the subsequent cycle. The battle — and the leverage — is now.
So the place does this depart SAG-AFTRA? The actors’ union has proposed will increase in minimal pay charges, improved working circumstances — and getting 2% of income generated by streaming reveals.
Actors are on strike as a result of most of us battle to remain alive on this occupation. I’ve been in SAG-AFTRA for practically 15 years and have by no means made sufficient cash to qualify for union medical health insurance. I’ve come shut — as soon as. I’m not well-known or ever had my very own present, however I’ve labored. My credit embody ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” and “Insurgent,” FXX’s “You’re the Worst,” HBO’s “The Newsroom,” Hulu’s “Tough Folks,” Netflix’s “Mascots,” Nickelodeon’s “Bella and the Bulldogs” and Paramount+’s “Gamers,” together with quite a few digital initiatives for Grownup Swim, Disney, Fb Watch, Humorous or Die and Snap.
These are the credit of a working actor. But I’ve by no means made the $26,470 in a 12 months — an unlivable wage in L.A. — that’s required to get guild medical health insurance.
What this battle needs to be about is permitting working actors the prospect to earn a livable wage with cheap well being protection. Cheap residuals should be a part of that.
In April, NBA gamers negotiated a collective bargaining settlement that netted them 49%-51% of basketball-related earnings, which encompasses ticket gross sales, TV rights and concessions. A lot because the NBA can’t play video games with out LeBron James, Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic and all its different athletes, the studios can’t make motion pictures and TV reveals with out Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and the 160,000 different actors in SAG-AFTRA.
Are we asking for 51%? No, we’re asking for two%. The WGA, for all its different wins, obtained 0%. SAG-AFTRA nonetheless has time to do higher.
Nelson Cheng has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 2010 and has labored for Amazon and Google.
