CMU School of Drama


Thursday, April 20, 2017

Potential Writers Strike Increases as Contract Tensions Grow

The Mary Sue: Something very important is happening in Hollywood right now, something that could have huge ramifications for the television and movies you love, and you probably didn’t even know it. No, it’s not the Ant-Man versus Batman Marvel-DC crossover of our dreams, but it does involve some little guys versus some billionaires: it’s the contract talks between the Writers Guild of America and The Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers. Yes, the time has come again for the studios and the creators we all love to renegotiate their contract, and things are going … well, let’s say that the Ant-Man vs Batman fight would look easy compared to this.

1 comment:

Simone Schneeberg said...

I found it interesting how the author presented the weightiness of a writer's strike. It would be extreme for Hollywood, messing things up from the bottom of the ladder up to the top. "Writers are the source from which everything flows and if they stop, everything stops." This sentence makes them sound so important, like if the writers strike then they're certain to get what they want and what they deserve because they have the power to bring Hollywood to a halt. But on the other had, the author also makes it sound incredibly dangerous for the writers, as if a strike will anger the wrong people and not actually be the powerful tool the Writers Guild wants it to be. The author says strikes are risky, but I wonder if she thinks they are a good idea or not. She seems on the side of the writers, values their importance as the power beneath the food chain, but I wonder if she thinks they should move forward with this powerful yet risky negotiating tool or not.