Why I'm Voting Yes on the WGA Strike Authorization Vote Tonight
WGA Possible Strike Talk
First things first. I’m in union leadership as a WGA Captain and Co-Chair of the Women’s Committee. This substack post is not me speaking for the WGA but me speaking as myself and my opinion on the next month or so.
The big elephant in the room in Hollywood these days seems to be a strike. If I had a coin for every time someone has asked me about a POSSIBLE STRIKE, I think I’d be able to afford a house at this point. Kidding aside, writer wages are so depressed, getting any type of a house is nearly impossible.
And in all seriousness, please offer a writer a drink or charcuterie plate.
As we all know, since March 20th, AMPTP (The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and the WGA started negotiations. On April 3rd, a a Strike Authorization Vote (SAV) was called and members will be voting from April 11th-17th. An SAV gives our union the ability to declare a strike if negotiations come to an impasse but does not guarantee a strike.
I know emotionally it seems taxing even if you’re not a WGA writer. I’ve heard from below-the-line friends that crew work and production has dried up since January and that everyone is suffering financially. But maybe I can offer some information that can be helpful.
A STRIKE IS POSSIBLE BUT ALSO NOT A SURE THING. The question shouldn’t be if the writers will strike. Yes, we do vote on a strike and when to end a strike, but the question is will the AMPTP be willing to meet our negotiations partway and not force the writers into a corner for a strike? I can’t speak on behalf of our union will do and if anyone tells you that a strike is a foregone conclusion, PLEASE FUCKING TELL THEM TO TOUCH GRASS and buy a lotto ticket.
Writers are a bunch of multi-millionaire assholes who are greedy. I went into lengths to debunk this on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/jeanedevivre/status/1643120610246262785?s=20. But if you don’t want to read about it the TLDR is that a lot of writers are working class and middle class earners (will do an economic breakdown below). We’re not looking to bankrupt the companies, we’re asking for less than 2% of what they earn off our content. Below are some infographics I made for instagram going into depth on some common misconceptions.
There are two financial resources for WGA writers. The WGAw Good and Welfare Emergency Loans (https://www.wga.org/members/finances/good-welfare-emergency-assistance-loans) which are available anytime and you can apply right now in case. Even though Deadline isn’t the most reliable source, there is a $20 million strike fund providing interest free loans, the second resource for writers. https://deadline.com/2023/03/hollywood-strike-wga-west-strike-fund-set-contract-talks-resume-1235310786/. More info on the strike fund can be found here (https://www.wga.org/members/membership-information/committees/strike-fund), which will open up their application process IF there is a strike. There’s also the Entertainment Community Fund, which offer loans and one time grants that do not need to be repaid back (https://entertainmentcommunity.org/am-i-eligible-help). But note ECF is open to anyone in the business.
With all that info, I’d also want to get into what why I am voting yes on the SAV vote. I’m voting yes because now more than ever, it’s impossible to be break in as an emerging writer and create a life for yourself.
I’ll start with a TV example. Right now the weekly rate for a staff writer is $5,302. Which sounds like a ton of money, right? But the median number of weeks a writer works is 20 weeks in 2021-22. Note the minimum then would have been $4446 per our MBA Schedule of Minimums p.23 (https://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/contracts/min20.pdf).
But let’s use the higher number $5302 and note I’ll be rounding up all the numbers slightly. $5302 x 20 weeks = $106,040, which sounds great. But if you have an agent, manager, and lawyer, they take commission of the gross at 10%, 10%, and 5% respectively, so that’s 25% automatically you don’t see. $106,040 - 25% commissions = $79,530. Then 1.5% in WGA union dues. So $79,530 - 1.5% = $78338. Your take home pay is net is ~$56K for the year (https://smartasset.com/taxes/paycheck-calculator#mtocQOfqIN) and if you’re incorporated as an S-corp, which is a fancy tax pass, you’ll pay tax on 40% of your income roughly, so your take home pay is ~$70K. So basically on the low end as a writer, you’re making $56K-70K a year. Can you afford to save, pay off student loans, buy a house, support a family on that income? In Los Angeles, the average rent is $2781, which is 40% of your income an as emerging staff writer. A minimum annual income of $53,600 is required to not be considered “rent-burdened” in Los Angeles (ie, spending more than 30% of your income on rent.) Now imagine splitting $56K-70K between a writing team.
Now let’s do a TV development example. If you sell a pilot the median for an emerging writer is $150K but let’s use the median for streaming at $200K (which is high and if you’re getting that for a first pilot sell please tell me your secret). I got my numbers from here (https://www.wga.org/members/employment-resources/writers-deal-hub/pilot-deal-guide).
I’m also using one hour numbers because they are higher and even in inflating the numbers slightly, you’ll see, excuse my French, they are fucking horrific. Because streaming takes forever, you can get offered a deal but closing takes an average of 4-6 months, which means no money yet for those months. Then you commence, which means you’ll start on the TV development once the deal closes. A commencement payment is usually 10%, which here is $20K. But remember you’re subtracting 25% commissions + 1.5% WGA dues i.e. 26.5%. So that’s $14,700. And sometimes you won’t go to draft for MONTHS on end. So you’ll have to survive on that $14,700 (don’t forget taxes) for let’s say 3 months. Suddenly that $200K doesn’t seem like a lot and for streaming that money can be stretched OVER YEARS. Now imagine splitting that between a writing team.
Now let’s do a feature example, it gets even shittier. In features, you’re only guaranteed one step usually, i.e. the commencement/story. On p.13 of the MBA it’s $23,866 at a low budget streaming model (https://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/contracts/min20.pdf).
The same timelines for negotiations apply here and possibly longer and because you’re only guaranteed one step, even though you should technically get around $66K on the lower budget feature, it’s not guaranteed. Try stretching $17542 (after subtracting 26.5% for commisssions + dues) over a year or longer. I haven’t even gone into taxes yet. Now tell me again that writers are rich assholes.
Yes, some of us are rich assholes. But the vast majority of us are middle and working class assholes.
And yes, I’ve been lucky to staff and sell in one year or sell one than one thing in a year. But it’s VERY HARD and I never take time off, like rarely. I spend HOURS chasing work and then wait months for deals to closed. All that time is unpaid. The hustle is real and not sustainable monetarily and mentally. Burn out is something I have to be very careful about. In closing…
I’m voting yes this is an existential threat for working class and middle class writers.
I’m voting yes, because for the dignity of writers to make a living, an actual career at writing, and not to be treated like this is a side gig hustle.
I’m voting yes because this is for future writers. Getting into the WGA is harder than getting into Harvard. After all that work to break in, you should be able to climb up through the ranks and survive.
I’m voting yes because it’s not enough to survive, we need to thrive.
Loved this- thanks for writing and 🫣😭😱!!!