When major Hollywood film studios and streaming services failed to reach a union deal for a new three-year collective agreement on Tuesday (May 2), 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike.
With writers on the picket line, production has shut down on several TV shows like Saturday Night Live, Yellowjackets and Abbott Elementary — but Canadian writers are standing in solidarity with our US neighbours.
The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) has set strict rules for members forbidding them from accepting any struck work that falls under WGA jurisdiction. Strike rules also prevent dual WGC and WGA members living stateside from crossing the line, however, writers can continue working under the Independent Production Agreement with the Canadian Media and Producers Alliance.
"There are a lot of us who are members of both guilds and we see a lot of similarities," dual member and showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell told Variety. "We're always going to fight for the rights of writers everywhere, and to get to a place where we can make a living wage and do what we love doing while making a living doing it. That's the hope and goal for everybody."
In the weeks leading up to the strike, filming and location scouting in Canada were quieting down in anticipation. Production on shows with completed scripts can keep going, but many projects — including an unnamed "substantial" series being shot in Toronto — have been brought to a halt.
It's the time of the season when writers' rooms in British Columbia would typically begin assembling, and people across the industry are preparing for consequent delays. Hit Showtime drama Yellowjackets, which shoots out of Vancouver, ceased work on Season 3 just after its first day in the writers' room.
"Well, we had exactly one day in the #YellowJackets S3 writers' room," the series' co-creator and showrunner Ashley Lyle tweeted on the day the strike began. "It was amazing, and creatively invigoration, and so much fun, and I'm very excited to get back to it as soon as the #WGA gets a fair deal."
As per The Guardian, while film and television studio profits have increased by 39 percent over the past decade, the average writer's salary has decreased by four percent. In the gig economy, what was once a steady career is now incredibly precarious in the absence of residual pay from cable and broadcast syndication deals. Meanwhile, TV series — which used to involve 20-episode commitments — are now often reduced to six or eight per season.
"From [the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers'] refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a 'day rate' in comedy, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession," a statement from WGA read [via The Globe and Mail].
With writers on the picket line, production has shut down on several TV shows like Saturday Night Live, Yellowjackets and Abbott Elementary — but Canadian writers are standing in solidarity with our US neighbours.
The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) has set strict rules for members forbidding them from accepting any struck work that falls under WGA jurisdiction. Strike rules also prevent dual WGC and WGA members living stateside from crossing the line, however, writers can continue working under the Independent Production Agreement with the Canadian Media and Producers Alliance.
"There are a lot of us who are members of both guilds and we see a lot of similarities," dual member and showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell told Variety. "We're always going to fight for the rights of writers everywhere, and to get to a place where we can make a living wage and do what we love doing while making a living doing it. That's the hope and goal for everybody."
In the weeks leading up to the strike, filming and location scouting in Canada were quieting down in anticipation. Production on shows with completed scripts can keep going, but many projects — including an unnamed "substantial" series being shot in Toronto — have been brought to a halt.
It's the time of the season when writers' rooms in British Columbia would typically begin assembling, and people across the industry are preparing for consequent delays. Hit Showtime drama Yellowjackets, which shoots out of Vancouver, ceased work on Season 3 just after its first day in the writers' room.
"Well, we had exactly one day in the #YellowJackets S3 writers' room," the series' co-creator and showrunner Ashley Lyle tweeted on the day the strike began. "It was amazing, and creatively invigoration, and so much fun, and I'm very excited to get back to it as soon as the #WGA gets a fair deal."
Well, we had exactly one day in the #YellowJackets S3 writers' room. It was amazing, and creatively invigorating, and so much fun, and I'm very excited to get back to it as soon as the #WGA gets a fair deal. #1u #unionstrong ✊🐝
— Ashley Lyle (@ashannlyle) May 2, 2023
As per The Guardian, while film and television studio profits have increased by 39 percent over the past decade, the average writer's salary has decreased by four percent. In the gig economy, what was once a steady career is now incredibly precarious in the absence of residual pay from cable and broadcast syndication deals. Meanwhile, TV series — which used to involve 20-episode commitments — are now often reduced to six or eight per season.
"From [the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers'] refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a 'day rate' in comedy, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession," a statement from WGA read [via The Globe and Mail].