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The WGA Strike: A Consumer Guide

by Chris Flippo
12/21/2007

You’ve seen pictures of Tina Fey picketing and you’ve noticed how The Daily Show isn’t as up-to-date as it used to be, but do you understand why the Writer’s Guild of America is going on strike? It’s a complicated issue that is causing plenty of grief on both sides. However, the question remains: will it all be worth it?

This is the first WGA strike in twenty years. Last time it was over profits made from the growing home video market. After six months of striking (!), a decision was made to give the writers .04 cents for every home video sold. However, since nothing gold lasts forever, the writers are now striking to see profits from DVD as well as from the newfound market for streaming video.

Now that you understand why you’re not getting any new episodes of The Office, how will the strike affect you in coming months?

First off, as of right now, moviegoers have no real reason to worry. The strike probably will not affect your local cineplexes for at least another year. Right before the deadline, studios bought plenty of scripts to film. Remember that writing staffs are on strike, but production offices are busier than ever. However, it must be taken into consideration that the scripts are, at best, works-in-progress. A good script is not written overnight, and, in many cases, that’s exactly what had to be done in order to make sure the deadline was met.

Though the world of film has not yet been affected, the strike has definitely left its mark on this year’s television season. If you follow late night talk shows, then you know that Jay Leno and David Letterman went dark almost immediately. Though the host usually performs the monologue solo, there is a whole team of writers behind the scenes writing material. Despite this, relations between the host and the writers have stayed strong since most hosts are writers themselves. Jay Leno recently made headlines when he agreed to continue to pay his writers during the strike.

Scripted programming has also now started to show the effects of the strike. Since the writing of an episode and the start of its production are within weeks of each other, there were a few episodes that were “in the can” and could be shown after the strike was underway. However, now that those episodes have aired, networks have been forced to show repeats or find alternative programming.

As for possibly resuming the schedule, scripted shows have a small time frame for finishing the season as planned, but that window is about to close. Unless an agreement can be reached within the next month or so, then there is no way spring television can recoup and go as planned. With talks continually falling through, the situation is dire. In many cases, scripted shows have halted production and let crew members go.

However, as you anxiously await for Lost and Heroes to resume their schedules, keeping in mind that this is not just a case of the rich wanting to become richer. Writing is one of the most thankless jobs out there and one of the least compensated. It is not a 9 to 5 job, and many writers struggle between projects.

As for writers just entering the business, the strike could not have come at a worse time. In some cases, the strike may have the adverse effect of hurting the careers of some writers. There may already have been some careers that have been casualties to the strike.

Last time, the writers held out for half a year. Whether they are able to hold out that long ago is still anyone’s guess. However, as of right now, there seems to be no end in sight. All we can do is hope that the situation will be resolved quickly.