Deadline is reporting that, regardless of whether or not SAG-AFTRA—the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists – decides to strike this week, the studios do not intend to sit down to negotiate with the striking Writers’ Guild of America members for “several more months”. An insider, who is said to be intimate with the point-of-view of studio CEOs, was quoted as saying: “I think we’re in for a long strike, and they’re going to let it bleed out.”
The misguided and callous belief of the studios is that the financially struggling writers may turn to WGA leadership and urge them to resume negotiations with studios and streamers, especially with the approaching holiday season. Under these circumstances, the studios and streamers believe they would have significant leverage to dictate the majority of the terms in any potential agreement. “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive was quoted as telling Deadline. Admitting their behavior was despicable, multiple sources confirmed the strategy. One insider even called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”
While the writers’ strike has halted work on countless productions across the world, filming has continued on specific projects with finished scripts. However, if the actors’ branch decides to strike, production would have to halt entirely regardless of writing status. The studios value the actors far higher than the writers, as is demonstrated by their choosing to prioritize the “famous faces” rather than the pens behind the words they speak on camera.
Burning Their Own Money to Prove a Misguided Point
In the ultimate stubborn move of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face, the studios continue to refuse to engage properly or pay the writers their fair share, despite the fact that they are costing themselves unfathomable amounts of riches. The sheer amount of money lost would have been enough to cover the cost of what the writers are asking for, but the principles of needing to remain “the ones in control” have resulted in the ever-looming shutdown of the industry. Little do the studios appreciate, many writers have been anticipating the prospect of a strike for some time, and are prepared to cripple the conveyor belt of entertainment coming out of Tinseltown in order to get what is rightfully theirs.
Since picketing began, the heads of studios offered shallow platitudes and faint praise to the striking writers, as the people around them told them how poorly they were acting, while offering no means of allowing the strike to end or even offering to sit down and begin negotiations. While a new agreement under SAG-AFTRA would not necessarily lead to production resuming, it could grant actors the opportunity to promote projects that are already scheduled for release.
To learn more about why SAG-AFTRA are on the brink of striking, visit this link. For information on the WGA side of the strike, visit this link.
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