On May 2nd, 2023, Hollywood writers went on strike with the help of The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA). Two months later, on July 14th , actors began to strike. This is the first time in sixty years that both writers and actors are on strike, but why have they gone on strike and what is it doing to the industry?
The reasons vary from actors to writers, but because both writers and actors are vital in the filmmaking process, production throughout Hollywood has come to a halt and caused many films to be delayed.
Within the past few years, Artificial Intelligence has advanced exponentially. According to Fortune.com actors fear having their likenesses stolen and then reproduced by AI for films so that film producers can avoid paying for big-name actors while writers fear that they will lose all job opportunities to AI.
Over the past decade, along with the rise of streaming, writer’s average pay has decreased by 23% according to Axios.com. This is due to most streaming companies, like Netflix and Hulu, commissioning television series that are less than half the length of what traditional series would air and other concerns.
Studios seem to have made no effort to work with the WGA since according to Variety.com the CEO of Disney went so far as to say, “We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors. There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic.”
One of the major delays of the strike is from Dune Part Two, which was initially set to release on November 3rd, 2023, but because actors are striking, studios are losing a critical source of marketing which is why the movie has been delayed to March 15th, 2024. Although Dune Part Two is one of the most noticeably affected projects, many other projects that had just begun production had to be postponed due to the strikes.
Due to Hollywood’s current reluctance to give in to the WGA’s demands, this strike is estimated to continue on until at least the end of the year.
