Why Hollywood writers went on strike

(2 May 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4432403
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles, 2 May 2023
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Janice Min, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Ankler:
"For several years now, the writers have been making less money and less money on what traditionally has been a long Hollywood tradition, which is called residuals, where you get a check that comes to you every single time your show airs. So if Netflix is running your show, you know, if people are streaming your show a million times on Netflix, you aren't necessarily getting compensated in the way you would have back in the good old days of 1990s broadcast television. And so those checks have gotten smaller and smaller. And you're seeing on social media, people put up their one cent checks. There are seven cent checks. And what we are seeing here is for the broad swath of writers here working in the entertainment business, it's become harder and harder to make a living, particularly as the cost of living in Los Angeles rises. The other part of this is that you remember when you were a kid, there were 22 episodes in a season and you've probably noticed everything is now down to 6 to 8 episodes. That means that means lower pay for writers because you are getting paid per episode. Yet still what's called the whole times longer hold times where you are getting paid for a long amount of work, but for fewer episodes."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York, 2 May 2023
2. Various of striking writers on picket lines in New York

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles, 2 May 2023
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Janice Min, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Ankler:
"These studios are going to plead poverty, the streamers and the studios. And the fact is, this great streaming experiment has not really worked out that only one streamer is cash positive, is profitable, and that's Netflix. Everyone else, when you see when you listen or watch these quarterly earnings reports from these companies, the massive ones, they all report extraordinary losses, staggering figures on these streaming services. So they are going to make the argument that, no, we can't actually afford to enact change on how we pay. I think that on the flip side of that, you will see the Teamsters, for example, this morning, they put up a tweet listing the CEO pay of every single one of the people at the top of the pyramid here. So, you know, and that's you're seeing I mean, some so staggering and what people are compensated that, you know, at the same time that these companies are laying off thousands and thousands of people. So there is a real disconnect."
4. Various of Culver Studios in Culver City, California
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Janice Min, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Ankler:
"This is really a reflection of what Silicon Valley economics have done on an industry. Hollywood is not unique. You've seen this happen in food delivery. You've seen it happen in taxis. And part of that is that you just make labor cheaper in order to make your company more valuable. And so Silicon Valley, when Netflix came to town as a Silicon Valley company, they really changed the model of how people got paid here. And for better or worse, the town was excited and said yes at first. And then it became a business model that I would have to say there was a lot of buyer's remorse now."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York, 2 May 2023
6. Wide of striking writers on picket lines in New York
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