By: Thomas Horvath

The entertainment industry has never been as big as it is right now. Production companies like Marvel Studios and Illumination Entertainment are releasing multiple movies yearly with varying degrees of success. It is less common for companies to release two movies a year than to release six or seven. Not to mention streaming services like Netflix and Max (formerly HBO Max) release new content almost every week. An integral part of these projects is the writers. While movies are making more money than ever before, writers have not been happy about their situation. On May 2nd, 2023, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) went on strike indefinitely. The writers have a list of demands, and as of now, the executives of film studios have not budged. This article will go into the demands of the writers in WGA, and how this strike could affect the future of American entertainment.

The main demands from the writers are higher pay, higher residuals, and the removal of artificial intelligence (AI) from video projects. Higher pay is self-explanatory, but the residuals are a bit more complicated. Most writers for years were paid not only with a salary but with residuals. Every time an episode or movie aired on television, the people who worked on it would get some money for it. For instance, many actors who haven’t had much work since their breakout hit (such as Michael Richards as Kramer on Seinfeld or Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing on Friends) get most of their paychecks from residuals. But with streaming, since the viewers are mostly unrevealed, the writers do not get any residuals. As for AI, many writers believe that a story needs a “human touch” to truly make it good. However, many recent movies have been getting mixed reviews from both critics and audiences. Many executives and studios think that using AI based on previous movies that were well received will result in movies people want to see. Whether you agree with them or not, writers don’t think it’s fair to be cut out of a business that they partially created. 

Time will tell how long this strike will last, but there could be some long-form repercussions for the American entertainment industry. Things like cartoons and comic books have long been on the decline. As a result, many more audiences will be going to manga, anime, and foreign media in general. If the executives hold off for long enough, many people will lose their jobs and add to an already intense job crisis. Hopefully, this will end with each party compromising on new conditions so nobody is underpaid or overworked.