Americas

Hollywood on Verge of First Major Screenwriters' Strike in 15 Years - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Hollywood, a symbol of the cinematography business, is on the verge of a first major strike of screenwriters in 15 years as a contract between the Writers Guild of America (WGAW) and the Hollywood studios expires on Monday, business media reported.
Sputnik
After the talks between writers and studios to renegotiate the contract have made little progress and lasted for the last several weeks, it is unlikely that the deal would be reached in time before the expiration deadline, the report said.
The strikes may reportedly break out, among other things, because of insufficient salary levels, a struggle to protect the copyrights, a working environment and conditions while dealing with streaming services such as Netflix.
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Additionally, streaming services usually order about 10 episodes per season over the broadcast norm of over 20, which results in involvement of fewer screenwriters on each show and a drop in their incomes, because the average salary for the writers has not grown proportionately to per-episode budgets, the report also said.
The possible strikes may affect the film production by postponing the companies' fall releases if the actions drag on, the report added.
In April, US writers' unions representing thousands of television and film writers said they had garnered enough support for a strike, which would allow for union leaders to call for a walkout after the expiration of the contract with the Hollywood studios.
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If a strike takes place, talk shows hosted by the likes of American comedian Stephen Colbert, comedian Jimmy Fallon, TV host Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers would reportedly go off-air immediately, and it would be a while before viewers at home start to notice the impacts.
The last time Hollywood writers held a strike was in 2007, which lasted for 100 days and cost an estimated $2.1 billion in lost revenue.
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