As the 2023 Writers Strike continues, the Writers Guild of America condemns Netflix and Comcast for seeking more money for executives. The strike began on May 2 as a result of the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ negotiations for fair compensation falling through. Some central issues during this negotiation include fair compensation, minimum staffing numbers for writers rooms, writer job security, viewer-based residuals for writers on streaming series, and regulation of the use of AI.Today on Twitter, the WGA called out Netflix and Comcast for asking shareholders to approve retroactive executive pay, in Netflix’s case “over $166 million,” in the midst of the 2023 writers strike.
The union points out that the strike would be over if Netflix negotiated $68 million to compensate writers, which is just over 40 percent of what the executives are asking for themselves. Comcast’s agreement with the writers would cost even less at $34 million.
The Effects Of The Writers Strike Are Already Being Felt
While it is still possibly the early days of the writers strike, it has already stretched on for nearly a month. If precedent serves, it may be several more months before a deal can be reached. The most recent significant writers strike ran for three months and eight days between 2007 and 2008, so a similar time frame could be the case here as well.
However, the effects of the strike are already being felt across Hollywood, including Netflix and Comcast (which owns NBCUniversal). The long-awaited Stranger Things season 5, which will conclude the landmark series, is one of the most prominent of Netflix’s many titles that aren’t moving forward until negotiations conclude. NBCUniversal also has huge series being delayed, including Law & Order: SVU.
Across Hollywood, the 2023 Writers Strike has caused a massive shift. This has been seen in ways both large (ABC’s upcoming strike-proof slate being nearly all unscripted programs) and small (Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 switching to a weekly release schedule to stretch for time). However, these ripple effects will continue to grow larger if writer compensation requirements aren’t met soon.
