海角大神

From a distance, it sounds like a street party. Outside one of Hollywood鈥檚 oldest studios, people are cheering. A speaker blares Stevie Wonder鈥檚 鈥淟iving for the City.鈥� Passing cars toot appreciative horns.听

Up close, it becomes apparent this isn鈥檛 a party. It鈥檚 a picket line. When screenwriters across America went on strike on Tuesday, they started marshaling outside entertainment headquarters such as Amazon鈥檚 film and television division here at Culver Studios. The upbeat protesters, wearing sunglasses and 鈥淲riters Guild of America鈥� T-shirts, chant 鈥渦nion power鈥� while parading around the colonial-style building where 鈥淕one with the Wind鈥� was filmed. These writers claim that studios are turning their profession into a gig economy consisting of short-term jobs with low pay and even uncompensated work. As one striker鈥檚 sign puts it, 鈥淗ey Amazon, free delivery is your job, not ours!鈥澨�

鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening right now is just abject disrespect of writers,鈥� says K.C. Scott, a scribe on the Apple TV+ show 鈥淧hysical,鈥� whose boombox is playing Bob Marley & The Wailers鈥� 鈥淕et Up, Stand Up.鈥� 鈥淲hen I was starting my career, someone said, 鈥榊ou go to New York as a writer if you want respect. You go to LA if you want money.鈥� And, right now, we鈥檙e not getting either.鈥�

The first writers鈥� strike in 15 years followed a breakdown in talks between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The standoff revolves around financial compensation and job security in an era when streaming has reshaped Hollywood. In a document released Thursday, the AMPTP disputed the accuracy of WGA鈥檚 鈥済ig economy鈥� claims and also touted a proposed contract that includes 鈥渢he highest first-year increase offered to the WGA in more than 25 years.鈥澨�

The negotiations come down to an all-too-familiar dispute in Hollywood: How much are writers worth? For studios, the answer may be a financial calculation. For writers, that question isn鈥檛 just a monetary one. It鈥檚 also a matter of feeling seen and valued.

鈥淲riters are seen as the essential cog in the wheel,鈥� says Dominic Patten, senior editor at Deadline Hollywood, an industry news publication. 鈥淏ut I think that what鈥檚 happened in recent years, it鈥檚 more systematic and institutional. 鈥� We鈥檝e seen a change, especially with the advent of streaming, in the way that the entire system works.鈥�

The last time writers went on strike was for 100 days that spanned 2007 and 2008. The toll on California鈥檚 economy is estimated to have been $2.1 billion.听

Fragmented audiences, fragmented pay?

Back then, audiences were already fragmenting as entertainment options expanded, but mainstream media was still relatively ... mainstream. Successful movie script writers could expect bonanza paydays in an era in which studios released major competing films every weekend. Established writers on a network or cable TV show could make a good living over the course of a 22-episode season. If a series was reincarnated on DVD or TV syndication, there were additional residual payments.听

Today, three of the TV writers picketing outside Culver Studios say that was something of a golden era.听

鈥淚t was just 10 years ago that we were all entry-level writers and we got a job that could sustain us for that year, even on a show that got canceled,鈥� says Eli Bauman, a writer for award shows such as the Emmys, standing alongside his wife, Joanna Calo (鈥淭he Bear鈥�), and their longtime friend Raphael Bob-Waksberg (鈥淏ojack Horseman鈥�).

In 2007, streaming was barely a twinkling pixel in the eye of big tech companies. Apple had only just unveiled the iPhone. Netflix, a mail-delivery DVD service, had only just launched video. Amazon鈥檚 focus was selling Kindles and fresh groceries,听on demand.

Then in 2013, Netflix televised a revolution by erecting 鈥淗ouse of Cards,鈥� its first original show.听

Within a decade, the company pioneered a process of more creative destruction than an episode of 鈥淪quid Game.鈥� In the race to maximize content, streaming competitors have acquired and consolidated vaults such as MGM, and even whole studios such as 20th Century Fox. The shift to streaming has boosted the number of new Hollywood productions. Last year, a record 599 original scripted shows aired in the United States. The beneficiaries of that boom aren鈥檛 just stockholders, but also the production crew workers such as casting agents, set designers, hair-and-makeup artists, electricians, cinematographers, VFX artists, and even the assistants tasked with fetching kombucha lattes for the directors.

But writers say they鈥檝e been short-changed by the new business model. For starters, on streaming shows, a season typically only consists of eight to 10 episodes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a paradox because you would think with so many more shows, there鈥檇 be more jobs for writers,鈥� says Jessica Sharzer, a screen captain at the WGA, in a phone interview. 鈥淭he writers鈥� rooms literally shrunk. So they used to have, let鈥檚 say 鈥� 10 writers in them, now they have six.鈥�

Most concerning, Ms. Sharzer says, is a widespread phenomenon dubbed 鈥渕ini rooms.鈥� If a production entity likes a pilot script, it may give a showrunner a minimal budget to hire two or three additional writers to develop the show. If the show doesn鈥檛 end up in development, it鈥檚 not a big loss for the company. But the writers take the brunt of the risk. The minimum pay they earn, around $5,000 a week, needs to stretch to payments to agents, lawyers, and the taxman. There鈥檚 no guarantee the scribe will be hired for the show or even credited for their work. The short-term hires may never set foot on set, a crucial step to becoming a showrunner.听

鈥淭hey鈥檙e also not getting the same level of growth and opportunities that they once did in that older model where you could grow as a writer, starting in the trenches, so to speak,鈥� says Brian Welk, a听senior business reporter for IndieWire, a film industry site. 鈥淪o maybe that鈥檚 why they鈥檙e feeling disrespected.鈥�

Studios push back on 鈥済ig economy鈥� claim

Thursday, the AMPTP stipulated that it had offered to improve the pay structures and minimum rates for such development rooms. Moreover, the trade association pushed back against WGA language that compares writers to freelancers in a gig economy.

鈥淢ost television writers are employed on a weekly or episodic basis, with a guarantee of a specified number of weeks or episodes,鈥� the negotiating body for studios and streaming companies wrote in its four-page document. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not uncommon for writers to be guaranteed 鈥榓ll episodes produced.鈥欌��

It added that television writers enjoy health care, parental leave, and pension benefits 鈥渢hat are far superior to what many full-time employees receive for working an entire year.鈥澨�

Other impasses in contract negotiations are over residual payments for streaming shows, script fees for staff writers, and the WGA鈥檚 insistence upon a mandatory minimum number of staff writers per show as well as guarantees of the length of employment. Deadline Hollywood recently wrote that AMPTP President Carol Lombardini 鈥渋s widely seen as a tough but fair negotiator鈥� who is keen to keep production costs from ballooning.听

But during the discussions, former WGA West president Patric Verrone perceived a lack of respect.

鈥淭hat may have been one of the differences between this negotiation and the others I鈥檝e been involved in,鈥� says Mr. Verrone, eyes squinting in the modest shade of his WGA cap. 鈥淭here was a different atmosphere.鈥�

The 鈥淔uturama鈥� writer speculates that may stem from the change in the composition of AMPTP since the arrival of Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. But as much as writers may crave esteem, he says it won鈥檛 put bread on the table.

鈥淎s long as I鈥檝e been in the Guild leadership, it鈥檚 become much more evident that we can get all the respect that they鈥檙e willing to dole out, but they will only make the ... financial deal that we need, that we demand, if we can show power and leverage.鈥�

The question becomes which side will blink first.

鈥淚n many ways, the timing for the writers couldn鈥檛 be worse as far as coming to the negotiating table,鈥� says script consultant Tom Nunan, a former TV executive and producer of the Oscar-winning film 鈥淐rash.鈥� 鈥淭he media companies themselves are going through this terrible reckoning. After years of overspending and explosive growth, they鈥檙e now in what seems to be an unending period of contraction.鈥�

Some believe that the studios and streaming companies, which have been laying off thousands of employees, are in a position of strength in this strike. In fact, they may even have reasons to welcome the disruption to production.听

鈥�The studios think that eventually enough writers will realize that they鈥檙e having trouble paying their rent or their mortgage and demand their leadership go back to the negotiating table,鈥� says Mr. Patten from Deadline. 鈥淎nd the studios, of course, can start canceling some deals after 30 days go by. ... They can save some money on the books.鈥�

The wider cost of the strike could be disastrous for an economic sector that鈥檚 still woozy from the punch of the pandemic. Yet many unions, including local Teamsters, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the Screen Actors Guild 鈥撎鼳merican Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Directors Guild of America 鈥� which begins its own contract negotiations with AMPTP next week 鈥� have expressed their solidarity to the WGA. Outside Culver Studios, virtually every passing car honks its horn to show support.听

Standing next to the hedges near the mansion where Rhett Butler wooed Scarlett O鈥橦ara, Mr. Bauman, Ms. Calo, and Mr. Bob-Waksberg say that the strike has a resonance that goes beyond New York or Los Angeles.

鈥淚 do think that鈥檚 something that anyone in America can kind of understand, especially as we all are kind of finding ourselves in a gig economy to some extent,鈥� says Mr. Bauman, the Emmys writer. 鈥淎ll we鈥檙e asking for is some version of sustainability and stability and respect.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Tom Nunan鈥檚 last name.听