How streaming caused the TV writers strike 

Disclosure: Vox Media’s editorial team is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East. But its members are not part of the strike covered in this video, nor are they part of the contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Its sad how writers are considered bottom in the hierarchy when they are the ones who are creating the entire world.

Reject streaming, embrace piracy

Streaming didn't cause the writer's strike - greedy companies and people did. I support the writers and hope they get everything and more.

This video is so interesting because you realize how similar this issue is to what most people are experiencing in the workforce. Way back in the day, people used to spend their entire careers working at one company, they could start in the mailroom and make their way up the ladder to the executive suite. Nowadays the mailroom jobs are often contracted out so you don’t build seniority and you don’t get benefits and so career growth is that much harder and there’s no company loyalty. At the end of the day, it’s all about maximizing profits to the detriment of workers everywhere.

I've seen writers also complain that not only are writing periods smaller, they are contractually forbidden to work for another show in the mean time.

That last line is the most powerful statement I've heard so far. "I think we want to make sure that, art isn't coming from only voices who can afford to do this job"

Netflix is a prime example of this. Wednesday did as well as Stranger Things. They didn’t retain any of there writers bc of this streaming structure. Not one writer from the first season was signed on for the second season. It’s 100% a different show by that alone.

Post Productionist here, we've felt the lack of work and as the years have gone on less and less pay. I used to get paid $30 an hour now its $19 and I've been doing it for 10+ years. This is needed for the whole industry.

Studios and streaming platforms are nothing without the writers. Pay them fairly.

Good on them for striking. A lot of professions should go on strike, but can't.

I really appreciated this break down. Definitely helped me to understand this strike and how important it truly is to entertainment.

Bad writing surfaces upfront but good writing goes unnoticed by majority of the audience. These writers should be leading the line.

Strikes are vital for workers rights, so workers can be heard and as a blunt reminder to management that sometimes the lowest paid people are the most important.

Strikes are the way to show that CEOs don't create your Entertainment

I am all for more episodes. Imagine the writers who wrote Prison Break and kept you hooked all through 24 episodes in every season. Mad respect. I don't enjoy shorter episode series, it's like you are busting my bubble that I like too early.

Honestly they just need to make streaming shows longer, very often I’m upset with the fact that there is only 6 to 8 episodes per season

I was already on the “give the writers guild everything they are demanding” camp, but after watching this I’m thinking whatever they are demanding is just the BEGINNING of what needs to happen. Wow

"Art isn't coming from only voices that can afford to do this job." This quote had a big impact on me. Hopefully, this gets figured out, and these writers find a situation that is a better fit for the talent and effort that they bring to the production.

The TV writers strike in 2007-2008, often referred to as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, was primarily caused by issues related to compensation and residuals in the era of digital media and streaming platforms. While streaming itself did not directly cause the strike, it played a significant role in the disputes between the writers and the studios. At the heart of the conflict was the writers' demand for fair compensation for their work when it was distributed through new digital platforms such as streaming services, downloads, and online platforms. The writers argued that their residuals and compensation structures were not adequately updated to account for the growing digital market and the potential for increased profits. The emergence of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video disrupted the traditional television landscape, leading to changes in how content was consumed and monetized. The writers believed that their compensation should reflect the value of their work in the digital realm, which was rapidly gaining popularity. The studios and networks, however, maintained that the existing contracts and compensation models were sufficient and resisted making significant changes to the writers' terms. The Writers Guild of America went on strike on November 5, 2007, with thousands of TV and film writers participating, demanding a fair share of revenue from digital distribution. The strike lasted for 100 days, significantly impacting the television industry. Many scripted TV shows went on hiatus or had shortened seasons, resulting in a decline in viewership and revenue for networks. The strike also affected the production schedules of movies and late-night talk shows, causing disruptions across the entertainment industry. Ultimately, after months of negotiations, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached a tentative agreement in February 2008. The agreement included some concessions from the studios, providing writers with increased compensation for digital media and a share of revenue from streaming and downloads. While streaming itself was not the direct cause of the strike, it was a catalyst for the writers' demands for fair compensation in the changing landscape of media consumption. The strike brought attention to the evolving nature of the industry and the need to address compensation and residuals in the digital age. It marked an important moment in the ongoing discussions and negotiations surrounding the impact of streaming on the entertainment industry.

The last season of Game of Thrones is proof why you need good writers

These studios have to stop taking writers for granted. You have nothing to direct, perform, produce, market, edit, or profit from without writers. Hoping the storytellers win.

What was missing: the difference in mean salary at a network show versus the mean salary at a streaming show.

As a set carpenter for hollywood films this strike has had detrimental effects to the construction side of our industry as we have no work due to no available scripts. Hope something comes soon.

OMG! The writers are the heart of the show. Without them, there will be no beautiful stories to watch.😢

Writers should not be the bottom of the ladder. Without their thoughts, creativity and words THERE IS NO SHOW! Put the writers in the place they belong and pay for for what they are, the CREATORS.

I fully support them because the crapiness of the shows lately is over the top and now I understand why ...

Writing is just suparbly underrated that it's been the one who can absolutely carry the show, your artworks and the story themselves! except even some people just ignore them or never gave them status the same as the directors do.

It’s incredible how streaming services affects so many in the entertainment industry, and even worst how many people care. Yes, the writers strike is still ON.

I love movies and TV Shows and that's why I decided to go into the creative industry. For a period of time, I wanted to break into "Hollywood". Go the traditional route. I worked on a few film/tv/commercial sets at lower-level positions and got to see what the reality of "Hollywood" was. It broke my heart to see how people were treated. I understand that I was in a lower-level position but I think basic human decency is not a lot to ask for. After my last set, back in 2021, I decided to find another path that wasn't the "traditional" filmmaking path. I never wanted fame or wealth, I just wanted to make a living and be happy doing the thing that I love. This strike is long overdue because these writers deserve better.

I work in animation and if you have the privilege to work in a union job at a large company, the company will usually try to find a spot on a new show when your contract ends, rather than you having to search around every several months. It seems like writers could benefit from a similar thing

The biggest problem for these writers and this 24 episode philosophy is that the audience seems to prefer shorter seasons, especially when streaming.

The crunching down of TV and film is affecting more than just the writers. It's affecting everyone in that entertainment pipeline. I can totally relate this this as an animator. I want the writers to get a fair deal. Corporations employing these writers have money.... they just don't want to pay people properly.

This really explains how vastly changed the business is. Someone is making plenty of money from the creative work of these writers. Management needs to share, I support the writers.

I was in Visual Effects ( VFX ) industry before, similar situation there too. I used to work 80-90 hours a week in a LA studio, after hiring full time they refused to sponsor visa. Artists had gone on strike ( around the time Life of Pi got Oscars ) and nothing changed. Thankfully i had computer engineering degree as fall back and been working as software engineer since. I miss working in the movies, but without stability and pay I cant survive in the US.

Loved this. Thank you for clarifying what’s happening.

I love explanatory journalism ❤ kudos to the Vox team!

Another way streaming affects this is that writers are constantly competing with what has already been aired. Technically this has always been a problem. But there’s a world of difference between driving to rent a dvd of friends and moving a cursor to the right. There really is too much TV right now- so much that it affects the writers’ leverage here.

I hope y'all get everything you want and need. and I hope to join you in a writers room one day as an aspiring television writer myself

This explains a lot, thank you for this video. I hope things can change in a positive way soon.

Streaming isn't the problem, it's the companies choosing not to pay the writers for their work. It's always been the companies, remember the strike back in 2008? Way before streaming and still for fair pay.

If writing becomes an unsustainable career then only the wealthiest will be able to pursue it. Morally, with the power to set such a large portion of our cultural language, these companies have a responsibility to ensure that process is equitable and inclusive. But how silly of me I forgot, maximizing profits for shareholders is obviously more important.

Ive often found it disgusting how much actors would make over writers and while I'm no expert on the film industry economics it's a no brainer that writers are very much under appreciated and under paid. Without them we have nothing.

This was so interesting and very informative thank you👏🏻👏🏻

This strike feels so quintessential as for how streaming platforms are actively sabotaging themselves. In a day and age where major streaming services are laughed at for mass producing shitloads of mediocre to bad shows that get axed after a season, the services instate a business model that actively deminishes the vital connection between cast and writers while also disincentivizing putting in the work to produce something fantastic.

We live in an age where tv shows, movies, make a LOT of money. I’m sure streaming has a small impact on the strike, but overall I think it boils down to the top dogs making the money and them not wanting to pay people for their talent. We see it on every profession, and should be calling out the failed system for what it is. Trickle down economics have never, and will never work. Everyone should be paid at the VERY least, enough to live on, not just barely “survive”

Thank you for a clearer understanding of the issues.

Fantastic editing! Great video 👏🏼👏🏼

This is the side effect of the gig culture seeping into day-to-day jobs. Even programmers are being let go after production

We only see actors but rarely appreciate the people behind shows. This video opened up my perspective to films and writing on a whole new level. Thanks Vox.

Unfortunately the model of streaming doesn’t work. In a theater each person pays around $20 to see a film. People now expect to be able to see 5-10 films a month for $20, and then they share passwords, so you then have 10+ people wanting to see 5-10 films a month for that same $20 or so. People think they’re sticking it to the Man, but they’re also killing indie production at the same time. Advertising dollars are different now too. When there were only 3-5 options for advertisers they would pay millions, now there are 1000’s of options which causes the cost of advertising to go down. It seems the only way money was being made was through investment in a system that was destined to collapse on itself… and now here we are. Enjoy all the reality TV!

Thank you so much for this episode

IMO, streaming also changed the dynamic between the fans and the show. With some network shows I still watch the relationship is so much different. We get teasers from actors and the crew while they're working on the show. The episodes don't come out all at once which means us fans have time to digest them, speculate on what's coming, and be creative with fan art and fanfiction. That I think means we are connected with the shows for longer. With a lot of streaming shows, you get the new season, and you are active in the fandom for week or two after the release and then the excitement slowly fades.

2:33 - this just made me understand why older shows (e.g. Lost on Disney+) has those random intense buildups and then immediately jump to the next scene 😂. Looks so strange without the ads.

This is honestly just a great time for all American workers to fight back against greed and the class war

Excellent video. Learned alot.

The hierarchy here reminds me a lot of the academic system, graduate student-postdoc-assistant professor-associate professor -full professor-professor -emeritus. Also the financial struggles, the need for mobility. 💪 much strength to the writers, I hope you guys find solutions, everyone deserves a living wage

Can't stop thinking about how people tend to complain most about the writers when a show does not meet their expectations but it seems those complaints need to be directed towards the executives making bad decisions about how long they actually need to employ them.

I hope the strike never ends. No more actors or writers, no more silly movies or TV shows. I prefer this.

Thanks for your work, Vox. I appreciate your in-depth reporting.

And that's why I left film...it's not just writers and actors, it's everyone...you work for maybe 10 weeks (if you're lucky), then spend 3 months finding another gig...So you might be paid well while working, but over the year it's not great

At least they can strike, visual effects artists cry themselves to sleep every night.

That's very interesting video. I now understand much better their situation and I definitely stand by it.

THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING IT!

Love how whenever there’s an up and coming new type of jobs in the US it always gets abused by big corporations because that’s just their nature

It would be nice to make a report on the other writers strike, from 2007 I think. See how things changed, what was achieved then and how are things now etc

This was well explained, thx!

Fascinating, thank you.

*It's sad that it's been a month and still they did not get what they deserve. 🥺*

As a consumer I want 20+ episode seasons back. A lot of shows feel rushed and have a lack of good character development due to the 10 episode streaming standard we have now.

Sounds exactly like the animation industry and what animators have to go through. Makes me wonder why animators dont get paid residuals either? They act out the characters but on paper/digital media.

Great video and very informative.

This was great overall, but I really wish they had covered mini-rooms. So many stories of not being hired on shows as full time staff after they write the show, instead getting cheaper less experienced writers for production.

This video was really helpful in understanding what's going on. Stay strong writers!

While I have 0 experience as a show writer- from what this talks about, it sounds very much different from what I do for a living- there are a few things about writers BEING ON SET that should be crucial. As previously mentioned, the actor is trying to conjure up the IDEA of what a character is in the head of the writer. They have their own agency, but the writer absolutely helps with that. If the actor doesn’t know what to do, it sounds like they go to the writers for help on that, which is crucial. In long-form story, one thing you go through is redrafting- when the entire story is written out, for the first time, you go back through, effectively rewriting the book, and refine the story down to its crucial points. You cut what isn’t necessary, you add what makes things hit harder later, and you make it all cohesive. This sounds similar to what a show writer does during production, and I just want to say that if doing that refinement is anywhere near similar to what a writer on set is doing, then not hiring them during those weeks, as the FOREMOST EXPERTS ON THE STORY BEING TOLD, is moronic at the very best.

“While women and BIPOC writers have made significant hiring progress over the last decade, men, and white men in particular, remain predominant in both the higher levels of TV employment and in features.” Source: WG Equity Report 2022

Support the strikers! It will be a long and arduous process. Don't let your support waver. It'll only mean good things for the shows you love in the long run.

I read an article on how shows nowadays don’t need as many writers and how streaming services only hire about two or three because of something called a mini room. Haven’t seen the vid yet, wonder if they’ll talk about this.

I didn't understand in the beginning but now i do, and we are with you

As bad as this is....the music industry was hit 1000x worse by streaming

I can’t believe there are actually people out there who think that staff writers are part of the “Hollywood elite” and think they’re just being greedy with this strike. Idiotic people like that have no idea how the real world actually functions and it’s important for people to see videos like this that show that writers are severely undervalued and need a considerable change for the industry to succeed. Television is a writer’s medium. There would be NONE of your favorite TV shows without them.

I want 20+ episodes back. I miss those days.

Good explanation.

Aha! So this 2:45 - 3:01 explains why Netflix series are usually between 8 - 12 episodes nowadays! All about the commercial (or lack thereof). Thank you for this explanation

What infuriates me about all of this is that writers, writing, any facet of art involved in producing TV shows is commercialised as much as possible. Art ceases to be art, it leans more into entertainment. The big money is made with entertainment and thus talented writers with good stories end up with smaller amounts of money to realise their projects.

It always amazed me that a creator gets paid less than one character they created.

This is besides the point, but its amazing that this has spanish audio too! Now I can share this video with so many people that dont speak English, this is awesome! Thank you so much!

This is really educational. Thank you.

Considering that many people consider much recent writing from Hollywood to be poor in quality, it seems like more than one thing needs to change in how professional writing works.

The writers are the heart of any TV or Movie that we see. Directors and Actors may get all the huge accolades and fan fare but they can't do sh@ without a story, and that takes a storyteller, a writer.

The writers and actors need to get what they’re entitled to. This is a clear injustice! How can the same studios who claim to not have enough money to pay the backbone of their industry then turn around and tell their shareholders that they’re raking in record-breaking profits. Both can’t be true…

I've been a fan of The X-Files since the '90s, and I'm so grateful for the show's writers. When you saw a name like Frank Spotnitz or Vince Gilligan in the credits, you knew it was going to be a good one. I don't know if writers are still recognized as much with these new TV show formats. Breaks between the (long) seasons were torture but built up excitement for what was to come next. I'm sure being able to binge everything right away takes away from the excitement of desperately waiting for the next season and makes people less emotionally involved with a show.

Streaming is the "fast fashion" of entertainment 😲

Can't studios have their own staff writers? It seems like it's the same in every industry - the people making the real money are afraid to share.

Eye opening. Wow! There would be no great shows without great writing. Like Frasier, West Wing, Beef, etc.

I understand that their situations are difficult, today. I've been in that similar situations, too, many years ago. Television production business is always tough since long time ago. That's why I changed my career in book publishing industry. The challenges are not as hard as in the TV show business. I hope all problems are solved and many people are happy. Insya Allah!

Unfortunately the disparity between the top older generation and bottom new generation of workers is huge in so many different professions, the writers are not the only ones who are in this position. As a whole the world we knew is changing and we all will have to find different ways of making income, there will be times of uncertainty and the old way is gone.

There are good charts out there that show the decline of union jobs and correlation of the decline of middle class incomes. We are basically ruled by corporations now.

I miss that shows used to be 22 episodes. Having waiting week to week watching show months on end seems unheard of now.

In short writers work are getting the same treatment as gig workers