[bitontheslide]

Thousands of Hollywood TV and movie screenwriters have downed tools after last minute talks with major studios over wages broke down.

A Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, the first in 15 years, saw more than 11,000 writers - 98% of voting members - walk out from midnight.

Tuesday's late-night shows are expected to shut down first, while forthcoming shows and films could face delays.

Picketing will begin on Tuesday afternoon, the Guild also said.

In 2007, writers went on strike for 100 days, at an estimated cost of around $2bn to the industry.

This time around, writers are clashing with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) - which represents the major studios, including Amazon, Disney, Netflix and Paramount - in demand of higher pay and a greater share of the profits from the modern streaming boom.

On Monday evening, the WGA said the decision to strike was made after six weeks of negotiations produced a "wholly insufficient" response to "the existential crisis writers are facing".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65447046

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I remember the last time they did this, it caused absolute havoc to shows like 24. Its effect will be very pronounced on the streaming services

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

Thousands of Hollywood TV and movie screenwriters have downed tools after last minute talks with major studios over wages broke down.

A Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, the first in 15 years, saw more than 11,000 writers - 98% of voting members - walk out from midnight.

Tuesday's late-night shows are expected to shut down first, while forthcoming shows and films could face delays.

Picketing will begin on Tuesday afternoon, the Guild also said.

In 2007, writers went on strike for 100 days, at an estimated cost of around $2bn to the industry.

This time around, writers are clashing with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) - which represents the major studios, including Amazon, Disney, Netflix and Paramount - in demand of higher pay and a greater share of the profits from the modern streaming boom.

On Monday evening, the WGA said the decision to strike was made after six weeks of negotiations produced a "wholly insufficient" response to "the existential crisis writers are facing".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65447046

----------------------------------

I remember the last time they did this, it caused absolute havoc to shows like 24. Its effect will be very pronounced on the streaming services

Yeah it was horrible, delayed loads of shows

[parmnion]

We have YOUTUBE. We dont care.

[Oliver_W]

Based on the general output from Big Hollywood of late, they're being paid too much as it is

[James]

It could mess up the last season of Cobra Kai. They were supposed to start filming it this month.

.....What happened last strike?

The last writers' strike in 2007-2008 lasted 100 days and cost the California economy $2bn (Ł1.6bn) due to many cancelled and delayed shows.

Big fan favourites like Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Breaking Bad and The Office were all impacted. Other shows went on without their writers, but their quality was significantly impacted.

Even a James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, suffered. The movie's script had barely been written when the strike began.

"There was me trying to rewrite scenes - and a writer I am not," Bond star Daniel Craig said at the time.

Similar to this strike, late-night shows also felt the most immediate effect without the help of writers drafting their scripts and jokes.

One host, Conan O'Brien, went on air and simply spun his wedding ring for as long as possible in solidarity with the striking writers.

Some have credited the last strike for boosting the prominence of reality TV, like Donald Trump's The Apprentice and Keeping Up with the Kardashians, as those shows do not require any pre-writing.

Back then, many daytime soap operas stayed on air with non-union writers. This time, the Writers Guild has warned that any writers that break the strike will be banned from future membership.

The last strike, however, was not the longest: a Writers Guild strike in 1988 lasted 153 days.

As for how long this current strike will last, it is anybody's guess.....

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65433099

Also it explains why Heroes S2 was so bad.

https://www.thewrap.com/23-tv-shows-...strike-photos/

Prison Break S3 also.

[The Slim Reaper]

I remember the last one. as it absolutely killed the show Heroes.

[Oliver_W]

I didn't watch a lot of American tv at the time (still don't really) but it dragged Ugly Betty on a bit too, so Christina was pregnant for about two years

[bitontheslide]

i remember it hitting 24. In fact they did a little mini 24 to fill in the gap

This time, with so many streaming services reliant on a constant flow of new content, the effect is going to be much greater. For example, netflix and disney are so politically correct, it's going to blow their minds, because their subscription base is dependent on the writers

[James]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

i remember it hitting 24. In fact they did a little mini 24 to fill in the gap

This time, with so many streaming services reliant on a constant flow of new content, the effect is going to be much greater. For example, netflix and disney are so politically correct, it's going to blow their minds, because their subscription base is dependent on the writers

Yeah, the streaming services will have to settle it or they've got nothing - apart from reality shows and documentaries.

Movie studios won't care as much. Blockbusters are mostly about spectacle and visual effects. An AI could write those scripts .

Problem for the the streaming services I've read is that they are all losing money (billions) apart from Netflix.

[Swan]

Didn't Prison Break get hit with this before? When whatshisname was in the Panama prison?

It's crazy to think shows used to have 24 45 min episodes per season. It's rare to see that now i think?

[Liam-]

Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper

I remember the last one. as it absolutely killed the show Heroes.

A tragedy, on the bright side didn’t it also save Jessie Pinkman from getting killed off in the first season of breaking bad?

[Niamh.]

Was the last one 15 years already??? Jeez it doesn't seem that long ago

[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Liam-

A tragedy, on the bright side didn’t it also save Jessie Pinkman from getting killed off in the first season of breaking bad?

Not sure about that, as I thought BB was fully planned out from day one, but I could be wrong.

[arista]

Live on Clive Bull LBC

An American Producer
saying it is effecting "Hacks"
show right now

Episodes are not able to get writers.

They are not getting paid
enough, as it goes online as well.
So Pay Increases must come in.


It can be done

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

Based on the general output from Big Hollywood of late, they're being paid too much as it is

This.

I mean tbf there's still the odd good Show imo (The Sandman, Reacher, and From being some examples) but overall most of the output is either bang average or down right terrible.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Swan

Didn't Prison Break get hit with this before? When whatshisname was in the Panama prison?

It's crazy to think shows used to have 24 45 min episodes per season. It's rare to see that now i think?

I miss those kinds of episode counts for American Shows.

I think for some reason it suited them better than what they're making now, it feels like they struggle to get character development and good storytelling fitted into an 8-10 episode Season, I think that the Americans aren't good at cramming content in within that sort of time.