Screenwriters on strike: Hollywood grinds to a halt
Writers claim they are treated as gig workers and set to be replaced by AI
One of the most famous telegrams in Hollywood history was sent in 1925, said Michael Schulman in The New Yorker.
It was from Herman J. Mankiewicz, the future co-writer of Citizen Kane, to his journalist friend Ben Hecht, urging him to move west and get into screenwriting, which Hecht later did, to great acclaim. “Millions are to be grabbed out here,” Mankiewicz told him, “and your only competition is idiots”. How times have changed.
‘Birth of reality TV’
Last week, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the union representing most of Hollywood’s TV and movie scribes, went on strike in protest at poor pay and working conditions. It’s the WGA’s first strike in 15 years, said Chris Murphy and Savannah Walsh in Vanity Fair, and it could have interesting consequences.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The last strike, which went on for 100 days, delivered a boost to reality TV shows, which had the advantage of not needing a script. One show that emerged from that time and won huge ratings was Celebrity Apprentice, fronted by a certain Donald Trump.
‘Replaceable widgets’
The screenwriters have good reason to be unhappy, said Rick Cleveland in the Los Angeles Times. When I got into the trade 20 or so years ago, you could still make a decent living. You could work with directors on set and in editing, and go on to work as a co-producer. Royalties from the reruns of TV shows helped you through lean times. Today, though, writers are treated as gig workers, taken on for short contracts and let go before the production of their show even begins. And the streaming services that now dominate the industry pay out lower royalties. The business is making more money than ever, but it’s turning writers into “replaceable widgets”.
There’s another “huge issue” troubling writers, said Alissa Wilkinson on Vox: the rise of AI. They’re worried about studios using algorithmic tools to generate ideas for plots, or even scripts, and then hiring writers to polish them up. Writers could then be paid at a lower rate, since technically they’d be “adapting” an idea rather than creating original content. Given that many TV series and movies are, by their nature, “highly formulaic” – think police procedurals and romcoms – this fear is well grounded. Alas, the WGA is probably fighting a losing battle against AI, said Liz Wolfe in Reason. Some already fear the worst. As the writer C. Robert Cargill puts it: “You think Hollywood feels samey now? Wait until it’s just the same 100 people rewriting ChatGPT.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Alan Cumming's 6 favorite works with resilient characters
Feature The award-winning stage and screen actor recommends works by Douglas Stuart, Alasdair Gray, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 historical homes in Greek Revival style
Feature Featuring a participant in Azalea Festival Garden Tour in North Carolina and a home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in New York
By The Week Staff Published
-
The best books about money and business
The Week Recommends Featuring works by Michael Morris, Alan Edwards, Andrew Leigh and others.
By The Week UK Published
-
A motorbike ride in the mountains of Vietnam
The Week Recommends The landscapes of Hà Giang are incredibly varied but breathtaking
By The Week UK Published
-
Nightbitch: Amy Adams satire is 'less wild' than it sounds
Talking Point Character of Mother starts turning into a dog in dark comedy
By The Week UK Published
-
Electric Dreams: a 'nerd's nirvana' at Tate Modern
The Week Recommends 'Poignant' show explores 20th-century arts' relationship with technology
By The Week UK Published
-
Joya Chatterji shares her favourite books
The Week Recommends The historian chooses works by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and Peter Carey
By The Week UK Published
-
Ballet Shoes: 'magnificent' show 'never puts a foot wrong'
The Week Recommends Stage adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's much-loved children's novel is a Christmas treat
By The Week UK Published