Studios Fire Back, Say WGA’s Mandatory Staffing Demands Are ‘Incompatible with Creative Nature of Industry’

The AMPTP's first public response to the writers strike said the WGA wants "a one-size-fits-all solution to shows that are unique."

The studios and networks are firing back at the Writers Guild of America in their first public comments since the writers strike began on Tuesday, arguing that what the guild refers to as an effort to preserve the writer’s room is “in reality a hiring quota that is incompatible with the
creative nature of our industry.”

“We don’t agree with applying a one-size-fits-all solution to shows that are unique and different in their approach to creative staffing,” the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said in a lengthy document released publicly and obtained by IndieWire on Thursday. “Some writers are the sole voice of a show and others work with only a small team. The WGA’s proposals would preclude that.”

The AMPTP said after negotiations concluded that “mandatory staffing” and “duration of employment” were the primary sticking points in talks, and their latest comments double down on that assertion and allude to programs like “The White Lotus,” “Yellowstone” or others that are written primarily by a sole writer or showrunner.

The guild has pushed back hard on that notion, saying that the AMPTP refused to even discuss what it feels are core tenets of its proposals.

But the AMPTP didn’t stop there and also pushed back on the numbers that the WGA provided to members ahead of the start of Tuesday’s strike, disputing the provided estimates in increases to minimum wage and the pension and health plan. The AMPTP further said that “the first-year general wage increase currently on the table is the highest first-year increase offered to the WGA in more than 25 years.”

Writers have also been vocal that they feel the studio’s proposals threatens to turn the act of writing into a “gig economy,” which the studios now say in response has “almost nothing in common” with standard gig work, saying it also comes with added fringe benefits such as employer-paid health care, contributions to pension plans and paid parental leave programs.

“For one thing, most television writers are employed on a weekly or episodic basis, with a guarantee of a specified number of weeks or episodes. It’s not uncommon for writers to be guaranteed ‘all episodes produced,'” the AMPTP added in its statement.

These are just a few of the issues that underscore how far apart both sides are in negotiations and why a writers strike could last for a long time. The studios also claimed that on the issue of streaming residuals, the WGA is demanding foreign residuals that represent a “200 percent” increase over current rates and treat foreign subscribers as the same as domestic subscribers, despite foreign subscribers often being priced differently than in the U.S. The AMPTP also says terms negotiated back in 2020 on increased streaming residuals are only just taking effect as of 2022, and that the guild’s new proposals want additional gains on those rates.

The studios also addressed AI. The guild has said it wants to regulate the use of AI so that material produced by artificial intelligence can’t be covered under the minimum bargaining agreement and material produced by AI doesn’t infringe on copyrighted, guild protected material. The guild earlier in the week alarmingly said the studios only countered with wanting to have an annual meeting to discuss advances in technology and have elevated the urgency of the issue. But the studio countered by saying that the current WGA agreement already says a writer is defined as a “person” and that AI wouldn’t be covered or receive a writing credit.

“We’re creative companies and we value the work of creatives. The best stories are original, insightful and often come from people’s own experiences. AI raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone,” the AMPTP said. “For example, writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted. So it’s something that requires a lot more discussion, which we’ve committed to doing.”

The AMPTP said the writers have undersold an already agreed-upon term between the two parties on script fees for staff writers on top of regular weekly compensation, the studios argued they agreed to a new payment structure for writers in development rooms, or “mini rooms,” and they called the guild’s proposal for protecting comedy-variety programs “unprecedented.”

“The companies have never agreed to establish a minimum rate for this type of programming under any other collective bargaining agreement; the WGA would be the first,” the AMPTP said.

The WGA called for a strike effective at 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, May 2 after the guild’s agreement with the studios expired on May 1. Writers have taken to the streets and picketed across Hollywood and New York, and as a result, late night shows have already gone dark, and shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “Last Week Tonight” have seen their seasons cut short.

“Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal—and though your strike vote gave us the leverage to make some gains—the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing. The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing,” the guild said in a statement Monday. “From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”