Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America ( WGA ) is the joint union of authors in the film and television industries in the United States .
It is divided into a western and an eastern area. The eastern area belongs to the trade union umbrella organization AFL-CIO . It currently has around 12,000 members (as of 2007). The union also provides health and pension benefits for members. It also controls compliance with copyright law .
With the Writers Guild of America Award , the WGA offers a well-known literature and film prize.
1988 strike
The 1988 strike took part in 9,000 writers from both unions, the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW). The strike lasted from March 7th to August 7th, 1988. Both television and cinema productions were affected.
Strike 2007-2008
In November 2007, the Writers Guild of America called an indefinite strike that lasted until February 12, 2008. This was due to failed negotiations about higher royalties on DVD and Internet sales. All upcoming television and cinema productions without finished scripts could not be continued until the end of the strike.
Some American television stations still had enough scripts in stock for their series to get through a longer strike. Most of the series, however, were directly affected by the strike and were either sent into the early winter break and / or had to reckon with shortened seasons. Telenovelas and soap operas were particularly affected by the strike , as their scripts have to be written continuously. After a while, TV stations increasingly turned to repeats , news , reality TV and programs without scripts (for example Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ).
Since not all episodes of the seventh season of the television series 24 were finished and so continuous broadcasting could not be guaranteed, the broadcast of the entire season was postponed by one year to January 2009 as a result of the strike.
The strikers were also supported by many actors.
The talk shows The Tonight Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien went back on air on January 2, 2008, despite the ongoing writers' strike. The showrunners justified their decision with their responsibility to the employees. The talk shows, produced by David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants , also went back on the air on Jan. 2, 2008 after Worldwide Pants and the WGA closed a deal based on union demands. The independent film studio United Artists, run by Tom Cruise , signed a preliminary contract with the WGA in early January 2008 under similar conditions . Warner Bros. threatened to cut 1,000 jobs due to the ongoing strike. Since the production decreased, not all positions could be further financed.
The producers of the gala for the presentation of the Golden Globe Awards 2008 , however, could not agree with the WGA to suspend the protests during the television show planned for January 13, 2008. After the actors' union SAG declared its solidarity with the striking scriptwriters and announced that all nominated film and television actors would be absent, the Golden Globe ceremony could not take place as planned. Instead, the winners were announced at a press conference. The WGA also threatened to picket the Academy Awards on February 24, 2008. The financial damage caused by the loss of advertising revenue amounted to several million dollars. The lost revenue for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was estimated to be $ 5 million.
After negotiating a preliminary contract with the AMPTP (Association of Film and TV Producers), the strike was ended with a ballot of the authors on February 12, 2008. The writers returned to their work and the Oscars ceremony took place undisturbed.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Golden Globes canceled - Why Hollywood has to strike from January 8, 2008
- ↑ Authors' strike: production status of US series, series junkies
- ↑ MSNBC: Robin Williams, Ray Romano support strikers (English)
- ^ Christian Junklewitz: Conan and Leno go back on the air. In: Serienjunkies.de . December 18, 2007, accessed November 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Variety: Letterman deal helps WGA's image ( Memento of the original from January 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Variety: WGA, United Artists strike deal ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Hollywood on ice: writers' strike threatens jobs on January 10, 2008
- ↑ Variety: Globes ceremony, parties canceled
- ↑ sueddeutsche online: Golden Globes canceled: The solidarity of the stars from January 8, 2008
- ↑ Comingsoon.net: The Writers Strike is officially over
