The Writers Guild of America or WGA has unanimously voted in favour of strike action following failed negotiations between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers or AMPTP.
Late last night, the WGA released the following statement:
"Following the unanimous recommendation of the WGA Negotiating Committee, the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Council of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), acting upon the authority granted to them by their memberships, have voted unanimously to call a strike, effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.
The decision was made following six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.
The companies' behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a "day rate" in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.
Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon."
Picketing will take place outside of Netflix's Hollywood offices, CBS TV City and other major production locations. We've already heard that multiple late night shows are shutting down production due to the strike, in order to support the WGA.
The last time a writer's strike took place was 15 years ago, and it resulted in major motion pictures and TV shows being changed due to the lack of writers. It remains to be seen if this strike will have a similar effect on the movie industry.
Thanks, Deadline.