2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike

Striking writers and supporters raise signs at a WGAW rally in Los Angeles

Writer-actor Jeff Garlin of Curb Your Enthusiasm (foreground, right) and others at a WGAW rally outside the Fox Studios in Los Angeles

If they gave us everything we had on the table right now, if they gave us everything we wanted—everything—and they then made a deal with the DGA and matched it, which is what they'll do, and then they made a deal with the Screen Actors Guild and tripled it, which is typically what happens....if they did that—if they gave us everything—on a company-by-company basis they would be giving all of us less than each of their CEOs makes in a year. And in some cases, a lot less.

WGAW president Patric Verrone

The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike is a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) that started on November 5, 2007. The WGAE and WGAW are two labor unions representing film, television and radio writers working in the United States.

The strike is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization representing the interests of American film and television producers. Over 12,000 writers joined the strike.

The Writers Guild has indicated their industrial action would be a "marathon". AMPTP negotiator Nick Counter has indicated negotiations would not resume as long as strike action continues, stating, "We're not going to negotiate with a gun to our heads—that's just stupid."

As of May 21, 2024, the current strike has lasted 863 weeks and 1 day. The last such strike in 1988 lasted 21 weeks and 6 days, costing the American entertainment industry an estimated 500 million dollars.

Issues in the strike

Every three years, the Writers Guilds negotiate a new basic contract with the AMPTP by which its members are employed. This contract is called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA), which is the entertainment industry's equivalent to a sports league's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). In the 2007 negotiations over the MBA an impasse was reached, and the WGA membership voted to give its board authorization to call a strike, which it did on Friday, November 2, with the strike beginning the subsequent Monday, November 5, 2007.

Among the many proposals from both sides regarding the new contract, there are several key issues of contention including DVD residuals; union jurisdiction over animation and reality program writers; and, perhaps most importantly, compensation for "new media"-- content written for (and/or distributed through) emerging digital technology such as the Internet. There is also discussion of the desire for higher pay.

DVD residuals

Background

We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working, but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations.

AMPTP president Nick Counter

Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable.

WGA Negotiating Committee

In 1988, the Writers Guild went on strike over the home video market, which was then small and primarily consisted of distribution via video tape. At that time, the entertainment companies argued home video was an "unproven" market, with an expensive delivery channel (manufacturing VHS and Betamax tapes, and to a much smaller extent, Laserdisc). Movies were selling in the range of between $40-$100 per tape, and the guild accepted a formula in which a writer would receive a small (0.3%) percentage of the first million of reportable gross (and 0.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual. As manufacturing costs for video tapes dropped dramatically and the home video market exploded, writers came to feel they had been shortchanged by this deal.

DVDs debuted in 1996 and rapidly replaced the more-expensive VHS format, becoming the dominant format around 2001. The previous VHS residual formula continued to apply to DVDs.

At present, the home video market is the major source of revenue for the movie studios. In April of 2004, the New York Times reported the companies made $4.8 billion in home video sales versus $1.78 billion at the box office between January and March.

WGA west President and Futurama writer Patric Verrone speaks at a strike rally in Los Angeles

Current proposals

WGA members argue that a writers' residuals, or profits made from subsequent airings or purchases of a program, are a necessary part of a writer's income that is typically relied upon during periods of unemployment common in the writing industry. The WGA has requested a doubling of the residual rate for DVD sales, which according to the WGA, would result in a residual of approximately eight cents (up from four cents) per DVD sold.

The AMPTP maintains that DVD sales are necessary to offset rising production and marketing costs. They have further insisted the current DVD formula be applied to residuals in other digital media—an area also being contested by the Writers Guild.

The WGA removed the DVD proposal from the table the night before the strike began. However, WGAw President Patric M. Verrone later wrote that the membership exhibited "significant disappointment and even anger" when they learned of this, and as the removal was contingent on further concessions by the AMPTP (which did not happen), "all bets are off" on the withdrawal of the DVD proposal.

New media

One critical issue for the negotiations is residuals for "new media", or compensation for delivery channels such as Internet downloads, IPTV, streaming, smart phone programming, straight-to-Internet content, and other "on-demand" online distribution methods, along with video on demand on cable and satellite television.

Background

Currently, the WGA has no arrangement with the companies regarding the use of content online, and two models of Internet distribution are currently being negotiated. The first is "electronic sell-through" (also known as "Internet sales" or "digital sell-through"). In electronic sell-through, the consumer purchases a copy of the program and downloads it to a local storage device for subsequent viewing at their convenience. Examples include movies and television shows purchased through the iTunes Store and Amazon Unbox. In the second model, "streaming video", the consumer watches a program in real time as it is transmitted to their computer but is usually not saved. Current examples of this model include advertising-supported television programs streamed free to the audience, such as those available at nbc.com, abc.com, fox.com, cbs.com and thedailyshow.com.

In either case, the program may be viewed directly on a computer or it may be viewed on a traditional television via media distribution devices (e.g. Tivo). The convenience of both these technologies lowers the barriers to entry into the digital distribution marketplace making it more accessible to mainstream consumers.

It is widely expected by industry observers that new media will eventually supplant both DVD in the home video market and television in the broadcasting market as the primary means for distribution. As in the mid-1980s, the companies have argued that new media represents an unproven and untested market and have asked for additional time for study. However, feeling resentment from the 20-year-old home video deal and unwilling to make similar concessions in a so-called "new market" yet again, WGA members have been adamant that whatever deal they make for new media, it cannot resemble the DVD formula.

New media is widely seen by most WGA writers as the central issue for the strike. Writer-director Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3) has dubbed new media "the One Issue" that matters.

This sentiment was further articulated by a self-described "skeptic", writer Howard Gould, at a meeting of the full WGA membership the night before the strike date was announced. He said, to a standing ovation:

Soon, when computers and your TV are connected, that's how we're all going to watch. Okay? Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don't make a stand now. ... This is such a big issue that if they see us roll over on this without making a stand- three years from now, they're gonna be back for something else. ... I might have been the most moderate one up here when we started, but I sat there in the room the first day and they read us those thirty-two pages of rollbacks. And what they wanted us to hear was that "if you don't give us what [we] want on the important thing, we're gonna come after you for all those other things." But what I heard was, if we give them that thing, they'll still come after us for those other things. And in three years, it'll be "we want to revamp the whole residual system," and in another three years, it'll be "y'know what, we don't really want to fund the health fund the way we've been." And then it will be pension. And then it'll be credit determination. And there just is that time when everybody has to see—this is one where we just gotta stand our ground."

Current proposals

The WGA has proposed that writers receive 2.5% of distributor's gross for new-media sales and distribution.

The companies have for now refused to address this proposal, and have instead proposed Internet sales follow the same formula as DVD sales. With regard to streaming, the companies have proposed that so-called "promotional" streaming—including the streaming of a program in its entirety and even for profit via advertising or other means— does not entitle residuals to the writer or writers whatsoever.

Both of these proposals have been rejected by the WGA and are cited as evidence the studios "(want) to shut down rather than reaching a fair deal."

Jurisdiction in reality and animation

The WGA's membership of approximately 12,000 writers (more than 7,000 in WGAw and more than 4,000 in WGAE) primarily work on live-action, script-driven movies and television programs.

Exactly if and how the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) should apply to other TV and film categories such as reality television and animation has been inconsistent over the years and is an area of much dispute.

Background

Programs such as Real People and That's Incredible, which were arguably "reality" shows of the 1980s, were covered by the MBA, whereas more recently produced reality shows such as Survivor and America's Next Top Model are not. Many producers of reality programming argue that since these shows are mostly, if not entirely, unscripted: there is no writer. The WGA counters that the process of creating interesting scenarios, culling raw material, and shaping it into a narrative with conflict, character arc, and storyline constitutes writing and should fall under its contract.

In the summer of 2006, the WGA west attempted to organize employees of America's Next Top Model. The employees voted to join the WGA, but then they were fired and production continued without them.

Animated films and TV programs have also been an area of heavy contention. The majority of animated film and television writing is not covered by the WGA's MBA. Most animated feature films have been written under the jurisdiction of another union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 839, also known as The Animation Guild. IATSE's jurisdiction stemmed from Walt Disney's tradition of creating an animated feature via storyboards written and drawn by storyboard artists. In recent years, most studios have begun hiring screenwriters to write script pages which are then storyboarded. According to the WGA, 100% of animated feature film screenplays in 2005 were written by at least one WGA member. Recently, some animated features, such as Beowulf, were written under the WGA contract. The only animated television programs affected by the strike are The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and American Dad.

The WGA and the IATSE have an ongoing disagreement as to which union should represent animation writers.

Current proposals

Regarding reality programming, the WGA has requested contract language clarifying that reality programming does fall under its jurisdiction. They have further proposed the adoption of a credit, “Story Producer” and “Supervising Story Producer” to be given to those writers performing story contributions to a reality show.

As for animation, the WGA has proposed clarifying its jurisdiction to cover all animation in TV and film that does not encroach on the jurisdiction of another union.

The AMPTP has not agreed to these proposals.

Negotiations and strike activity

WGA members gathered at November 9 2007 rally at Fox Plaza in Century City, Los Angeles, California.

The current WGA contracts with AMPTP both expired on October 31 2007. Talks broke down the night of the 31st over the new-media issue. During a meeting on November 1 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which was attended by 3,000 WGAW members, the general membership was informed that the negotiating committee had formally recommended a strike. The board said it would announce the date of the strike the following morning. On November 2, the WGAE and WGAW announced that the strike would begin at 12:01 AM on November 5.

On November 4, in a last-ditch conciliation to try to avoid the strike, the WGA temporarily withdrew its DVD proposal, but the Companies still insisted on a lack of residual for new media. Talks subsequently broke down, with both sides accusing the other of walking out.

Thus, on November 5, nearly 3,000 WGAW members, plus additional SAG and Teamsters members, picketed or refused to cross the picket lines at fourteen targeted studios in Los Angeles. Additionally, many more Writer's Guild of America East picketers marched in locations in New York including Rockefeller Center. Picketing is scheduled to continue throughout the strike period.

On Friday, November 9, following four days of targeted picketing, a massive rally was held outside the Fox studios in Los Angeles, drawing an estimated 4,000 WGAW members and supporters, including a sizable number of SAG members. Speakers included WGA West president Patric M. Verrone, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and producer Norman Lear. The rally was opened with a two-song performance by Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello (as The Nightwatchman) of Rage Against the Machine.

On late November 16, 2007, both the WGA and the AMPTP made the following announcement: "Leaders from the WGA and the AMPTP have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26. No other details or press statements will be issued."

On November 29, 2007, the AMPTP submitted a new proposal to the WGA, reportedly worth an additional $130 million in compensation. The WGA responded that it did not understand how the $130m figure had been calculated, but was pleased the AMPTP was proposing figures in that range. Both sides agreed to a four-day recess at the WGA's request. Talks were resumed on December 4.

Following a renewed push on jurisdiction in reality programming by the WGA, including a rally outside North American headquarters of non-signatory reality producer FremantleMedia, talks again broke off on December 7 when the AMPTP walked away from the table, issuing a press release that they would return only upon the WGA dropping several key proposals, among them the reality proposal. This move had been predicted by reporter Nikki Finke and others, many of whom suspect the AMPTP is intentionally delaying negotiations so that it may terminate unwanted production contracts via force majeure. According to Wall Street, the impact of accepting all of WGA's proposals are "largely negligible" and "financially small", suggesting that the studios are afraid that reaching a favorable settlement with the writers might "embolden directors and actors in their coming renegotiations."

In mid-December, the WGA announced plans to try and negotiate with individual production companies to end the impasse.

Strategies and tactics

AMPTP

Foreseeing the possibility of a strike, production companies accelerated production of films and television episodes in an effort to stockpile enough material to continue regular film releases and TV schedules during the strike period. A list of 300 high-priority film projects reportedly circulated around talent agencies in accordance with this effort.

Following the refusal of many showrunner writer-producers to cross the picket line in the first week of the strike, the companies sent breach-of-contract letters and have suspended many of them without pay to force them to return to work.

There is also speculation the companies are seeking out other sources of writing services, including in the UK. The Writers' Guild of Great Britain attempted to thwart this effort, however, by discouraging British union members from participating. Paul Cornell, a writer for several successful television series in the UK, mentioned in a post on his blog on December 14 2007 that he had declined an approach to cross the WGA picket line and write for an American series.

The AMPTP announced on December 6 that it has hired the public relations services of Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, self-dubbed the "Masters of Disaster", who have previously worked for Democratic politicians (including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Grey Davis) and who, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "earn up to $100,000 a month for pulling their clients out of public relations quicksand." The AMPTP has also hired former Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt of Mercury Public Affairs in Sacramento..

Fabiani & Lehane's strategy appears to be to try to weaken the WGA membership's resolve and foment resentment and doubt regarding WGA leadership within its ranks and in the film industry at large, especially with below the line workers, by framing the strike as "havoc" "wreaked" "by the WGA's actions" and by blaming the WGA for "start[ing] this strike". They are also attempting to recast language in terms more favorable to the AMPTP, such as referring to WGA negotiators as "organizers" and branding the AMPTP proposals as a "New Economic Partnership".

In response to their work for the AMPTP, Fabiani & Lehane's union clients SEIU Local 99 and Change To Win terminated their contracts with the consultants.

WGA

WGA members gathered at November 9 strike rally in Century City.

It was initially expected that the strike, if it occurred, would be scheduled for the summer of 2008 to coincide with the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's contracts. Instead, the strike started shortly after the WGA's contracts expired. This was apparently done to give the AMPTP less time to stockpile scripts and otherwise prepare for a strike in 2008.

During the pre-strike negotiations, the WGA created "contract captains" to keep the general membership informed on a person-to-person basis of the latest developments. Once the strike started, these members became "strike captains" who are tasked with communication duties as well as helping to coordinate pickets.

The WGA has assigned picketers to location shoots in an attempt to shut down production and have set up picket lines in front of studio gates to encourage Teamsters, particularly truck drivers, not to cross the line.

For its second week of picketing, the WGA has reduced their studio strike list from fourteen to ten, shifted picketing hours to earlier in the day, and has scheduled a series of daily strike themes ranging from "Bring-A-Star-To-Picket-With-You" (also called "Cast Day") to "Bring-Your-Kids" special events.

The WGA has made a direct appeal to the public to explain the issues behind the strike, including use of online videos and blogs. WGA strike captains have also encouraged fans to mail pencils to the film and TV moguls en masse. They are also looking to unorthodox methods, including performing a mock exorcism against Warner Bros. and holding the last rites for the former MBA.

Additionally, the WGA has appealed to members of crew and industry craft unions, including the Teamsters, and IATSE, some of whom may not be aware that their union also receives residuals to pay for health and pension programs and that they are expected to directly benefit from residual gains made by the WGA.

Effect on television and film

Television

Main article: Effect of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike on television

All scripted Hollywood shows except October Road were expected to shut down by the week of December 19, 2007. Hollywood journalist Nikki Finke reported, "CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now."

Within the first week of the strike, AMPTP-member companies fired writers' assistants, production assistants, and other lower-level staffers working on shut down programs. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane called this a "desperate, punitive act" and called on "all show-runners whose assistants are terminated, if you have the means, keep paying your assistants. Because this strike is about the little guys."

Of the "Big Four" networks, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox, NBC has had the most severe ad shortfall as its prime time ratings have been declining sharply; none of its new shows have achieved breakout success. Moreover, during 2007, NBC saw its prime time 18-to-49-year-old viewership drop by 11%. CBS dropped the same demographic by 10%, and ABC lost 5%. Fox executive Peter Chernin has suggested the strike is "probably a positive" for the network, expecting its non-WGA reality hit American Idol to do especially well given reduced competition.

Although both are WGA members who have pledged support for the writers, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien have announced that following the collapse of negotiations, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien would return to air on January 2, 2008 without writers, citing their non-writing staff facing layoffs as the main reason.

Unlike Leno and O'Brien whose talk shows are produced and owned by their respective networks, David Letterman owns his own independent production company, Worldwide Pants, which on December 28 announced an "interim agreement" with the WGA. This agreement allows his talk show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to air with writers during the strike under terms contained in the WGA's previously-rejected proposals to the AMPTP. It is also part of the WGA's new "divide and conquer" strategy, intended to put pressure on other networks whose talk shows will return without writers. The new strategy contains some risk, however, as some WGA members may resent some writers working while others are still on strike.

The guild stated it had no plans to target Leno and O'Brien with protests such as were aimed at non-WGA member Carson Daly, who was accused of setting up a joke hotline as a strike-breaking effort when he returned to air. Later, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced that their shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, would also return without writers on January 7, 2008. The WGA accused Comedy Central and NBC of forcing hosts back on air by threatening the jobs of the staff and crew of their shows, and said it would picket them.

Entertainment award telecasts

The WGA has announced it will not issue waivers for the Golden Globes and Oscars award ceremonies, and SAG's president has suggested its members may skip the ceremonies as well. Labor experts stated that this move was "an attempt by the guild to bring the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers back to the bargaining table."

The WGA issued a statement, granting a waiver to the Film Independent's Spirit Awards, which will be broadcast live and unedited on February 23 on the Independent Film Channel, with actor Rainn Wilson as its host. An edited repeat will air later that evening on AMC. The WGA has also granted a waiver to the Screen Actors Guild for its awards show, Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be broadcasted live by TNT and TBS on January 27.

The People's Choice Awards, which was denied a waiver, stated it would have to revamp the format of the ceremony by releasing a taped ceremony for January 8 telecast on CBS, instead of airing it live as usual.

Response

Actors

They claim there’s no money in the Internet. That’s a shell game.

Actor Robin Williams

Main article: Reaction by actors to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike

The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) contracts with the AMPTP both contain a "no strike" clause, meaning that working members of the acting unions are not supposed to walk off their set in support of another union's strike. However, many actors have expressed their support for the writer's strike, with some marching with writers and even refusing to cross the WGA's picket line.

Writer-producers

Family Guy and American Dad creator and actor Seth MacFarlane speaking at a WGAW rally in Los Angeles on November 9, 2007

Many television writer-producers, also known as "hyphenates" (or "show-runners", if they are in charge of the day-to-day production of a television show) who are WGA members found themselves contractually obligated to continue their production duties while simultaneously barred from performing writing duties during the strike. In a show of solidarity with the writers, approximately 120 show-runners marched in Burbank on November 7, 2007 and many have decided to honor the picket lines entirely, refusing to perform even their production duties during the strike.

Agents

Literary agents stand to lose business when the writers they represent are not working. Some agencies have reportedly eliminated assistant positions and others have asked their agents to take pay cuts during the strike. A few of the larger and more prominent agencies, including William Morris, CAA, and ICM have provided coffee, bagels, and churros for picketing writers. Agents had also reportedly been involved in back-channel efforts to get the two parties to return to the negotiating table before talks resumed November 26.

Media executives

Two prominent executives, both of whom headed major studios in the 1980s and moved on to Internet-related ventures, have voiced their disagreement with the tactics of the WGA.

For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future — they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now — they are misguided; they should not have gone on the strike.

Michael Eisner, new-media executive

Former Walt Disney Corporation CEO Michael Eisner characterized the writer's strike as "insanity". He addressed a business conference, saying, "I've seen stupid strikes, I've seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike."

Former Paramount and Fox CEO Barry Diller also has stated the strike is "stupid." In comments to Fox Business Channel, he said, "There are no profits for the work that writers do that is then digitized and distributed through the Internet." Diller is currently the CEO of the Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Diller also suggested that the writers guild should have waited five years to see where the revenues from new-media ventures were coming from. "We want to freeze this area until we can understand the revenues, which aren’t going to develop for another few years."

Neither executive, however, expressed support for the AMPTP.

Presidential candidate John Edwards attends November 16 rally for striking writers at a WGAW protest at NBC in Burbank.

Politicians

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he is negotiating with both sides of the dispute "because it has a tremendous economic impact on our state." 2008 Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson, each issued statements of support for the WGA. Although 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani stated "a candidate for office really shouldn't get involved," he did offer to serve as a mediator between the parties, citing his experience "settl[ing] several difficult labor disputes" as Mayor of New York City. Civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson has marched with the writers and spoke at a WGA rally on November 9, 2007. On November 13, 2007, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party adopted a resolution in support of the WGA. WGAW president Verrone and Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg traveled to Washington, D.C. on November 14 to meet with legislators and regulators about the unions' position on new media. On November 16, John Edwards appeared in person to picket and speak with the writers outside NBC studios in Burbank, CA. The December 10, 2007 Democratic Presidential debate that was to be held in Los Angeles, California, was canceled November 28, 2007 due to candidate boycott.

On December 19, Los Angeles City Council’s Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on the economic impact of the strike on the local and regional economy, allowing the WGA and AMPTP to testify. However, the AMPTP declined to attend, but sent in Motion Picture Association of America to issue a statement to the committee on its behalf. The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution which urged the two sides to return to the bargaining table. Jerry Nickelsburg, an economist professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management, presented UCLA Anderson Forecast's economic report. He stated that so far, the strike has not impacted the economy deeply, citing the network's inventory stockpiling in preparation of the strike and the increase in usage of reality shows. Ultimately, the Forecast predicted an economic impact of $380 million if the strike were to last 22 weeks, which was how long the 1988 strike had lasted. Jack Kyser, an economist of Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, predicted that the total amount of the direct loss and indirect loss so far was estimated at $220 million, and revenues generated for the county from the annual Academy Awards would dip if the strike were to continue and actors honored the picket lines.

Other unions and associations

The WGA has acknowledged support from several unions, including the Screen Actors Guild, the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the National Writers Union, as well as writers guilds in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, France, Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, Switzerland, and Belgium. Many of the various genre writers associations have also come out in support of the WGA's strike, including the Horror Writers Association, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

The numbers speak for themselves and show that the WGA leadership is totally out of touch with the impact of their foolhardy tactics. Figures don't lie, liars figures.

IATSE president Tom Short

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents most of the "below the line" motion picture employees (over 50,000 members) and has jurisdictional disputes with WGAW in animation, has not joined the strike, citing a "no strike" provision in their contracts. IATSE president Tom Short has publicly criticized the tactics of the WGA, arguing that the writers guild intended to strike almost a year in advance of the expiration of the writers' contract. In a letter to Verrone made publicly available, Short wrote, "When I phoned you on Nov. 28, 2006, to ask you to reconsider the timing of negotiations, you refused. It now seems that you were intending that there be a strike no matter what you were offered, or what conditions the industry faced when your contract expired at the end of October."

Popular Culture & Media

File:30rocknewscrawl206strike.png

30 Rock references the writers strike in a news crawl.

• The writer's strike was mentioned on the "Somebody to Love" episode of 30 Rock, which aired on November 15, 2007. During the fictional MSNBC news report seen in the episode featuring the character of C.C. (Edie Falco), the news crawl reads: "News Crawl affected by Writers Strike - Using Repeat Text From previous season". Headlines then followed on the news crawl recycled from the previous season's episode "Hard Ball".

• After the strike was announced, that week's edition of WWE Raw made a joke of it with Shawn Michaels asking partner Triple H, "Who writes this crap?" and him replying "I don't think anybody does; they're all on strike!" World Wrestling Entertainment uses non-union writers.

• The video game webcomic Penny Arcade released a comic in support of the strike joking that the writer (Tycho) would strike leaving the artist (Gabe) to produce the comic alone. There is no evidence that this has actually taken place, save for the punchline of the comic where a ludicrous new character is introduced; Rex Ready, a "time-traveling secret agent dinosaur for hire." Rex has so far not been referenced in any recent strips.

• The A.V. Club, an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion, has designated TV networks and movie studios "unbearable" on its weekly Tolerability Index, stating, "Just give the writers what they want. TV without writers will be like watching VH1 while getting a lobotomy."

• An off-shoot of writers claiming to be green warriors have created a series of YouTube videos satirizing the studio's perspective, though the level of subtlety in the satire has caused fans of the videos to incorrectly assume it was created by the studios.

• The strike had been a topic of Al Jazeera's Listening Post, a program that monitors media business news.

• In his "Screen Burn" column in The Guardian, British TV critic Charlie Brooker said that British writers should exploit the writers strike by making British versions of American shows. He wrote, "Let's save up that money we didn't spend, and make a homegrown 24 in which Adrian Chiles (Jack Bauer) has to stop Gloucestershire flooding again by kicking individual raindrops back into the sky."

• The strike inspired a topic for the American Comic Strip "FoxTrot", by Bill Amend, where Peter uses the strike as an excuse to not complete homework, and watch television instead, but is later reminded that all there is on television are re-runs.

General public

Several opinion polls have gauged the public's response to the strike. One national survey conducted by Pepperdine University from November 7 to November 9 found that 84%, or more than four out of five Americans, were aware the strike was in progress. While 75% of respondents were found to have little to no concern over the strike, nearly two-thirds of the sample sided with the writers, one third was unsure, and only four percent sympathized with the AMPTP (1,000 American adults participated). A second regional poll conducted by SurveyUSA on November 11 of Los Angeles residents indicated that eight percent supported the studios with sixty-nine percent supporting the writers (550 American adults participated, with 482 identifying themselves as being familiar with the strike). According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted six weeks into the strike from December 13 to December 15, 60% of Americans side with the writers, while 14% favor the studios (1,011 American adults participated). Among the viewers, 49% said they were more likely to watch reruns, 40% said they planned to watch reality series and other programming not disrupted by the strike, and 26% were more likely to buy or rent DVDs of television series from past seasons. Viewers of late-night talk shows have already changed their habits: out of 25% of the poll respondents who said they frequently or occasionally watch late-night talk shows, 27% watched another show, 25% went to bed earlier, and 25% read. Only 12% watched reruns, indicated by the shows' decreasing ratings.

Viewers of individual television shows have organized to support "their" writers. Fans4writers, an outgrowth of Joss Whedon's fan base, have walked the picket line and provided regular food drops to picketing writers. Additional projects in support of the strike are on-going.

The long-term effect on the viewing habits of the general public is difficult to gauge. Estimates suggest that 10% of the overall television-viewing audience was lost as a result of the 1988 writers strike, a drop-off that has not been reversed.

Related work stoppages

Possible industry-wide strike

Any increase in benefits in health insurance, pension, or residual gains made by the WGA are also likely to be demanded by other entertainment industry labor unions when their contracts expire. This is a practice known as pattern bargaining-- the first union to reach a contract with the AMPTP usually sets the template for the agreement with other unions.

In July 2008, the contracts for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Directors Guild of America (DGA) will expire. The DGA has announced that its negotiations with the AMPTP will start in January 2008. The DGA's membership, comprised of directors as well as below-the-line workers (1st and 2nd assistant directors), is less focused on the WGA's most contentious issue- new media residuals. As a result, these negotiations are expected to be less confrontational than that of the WGA.

Like the WGA, however, SAG is very concerned with residuals in new media and has been especially supportive of the WGA's strike effort. The president of SAG, Alan Rosenberg, has suggested SAG may choose to ignore the tradition of pattern bargaining if terms of the DGA's deal is deemed insufficient to the actors. Thus, if the new media issue is not resolved to their satisfaction by the DGA or WGA by July of 2008, SAG is likely to join the writers in striking when their contract expires, a move which could potentially bring the Hollywood film industry to a near-complete standstill.

2007 CBS News writers strike

Main article: 2007 CBS news writers strike

In November 19, 2007, news writers for CBS News and CBS-owned stations voted to authorize strike action against their employers. Timed closely to the WGA strike, this action has resulted in statements from politicians unwilling to cross picket lines for interview shows and candidate debates.

See also

	Organized Labour Portal
	Television Portal
	Film Portal
	Media and images from Commons

• Effect of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike on television
• 1988 Writers Guild of America strike
• 1960 Writers Guild of America strike
• Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
• Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE)
• Writers Guild of America, west (WGAW)
• Reaction by actors to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike

External links

Union links

• Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) official site
• Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) official site
• Directors Guild of America (DGA) official site
• Screen Actors Guild (SAG) official site
• American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) official site
• Writers Guild of Great Britain official site

Employer links

• Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) official site

News links

• Los Angeles Times WGA strike news portal
• Los Angeles Times WGA strike news blog (RSS)
• Variety WGA strike news portal
• Variety WGA strike news blog (RSS)
• LA Weekly - Deadline Hollywood Daily Blog from Nikki Finke
• TV Guide Strike Watch Blog (RSS)

WGA member blog links

• Hollywood Strikes (RSS)
• UnitedHollywood A blog maintained by WGA strike captains and other writer-friendly bloggers (RSS)
• Why We Strike A pro-WGA video intended for the layperson explaining the WGA's issues
• News From Me Blog from television/animation writer Mark Evanier
• ArtfulWriter.com This blog, by high profile feature screenplay writers Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott, is frequently visited by WGA members to discuss the strike and other writer-related matters (RSS)
• Criminal Minds Fanatic Edward Allen Bernero, executive producer of the TV show Criminal Minds, explains the strike to fans
• JohnAugust.com A blog by writer John August, with almost daily strike updates.