Remember when the writers' union went on strike, shutting down Hollywood production for a couple months?
It was framed as the writers taking on the movie studios. A deal was struck, one that I was told was great for the writers.
Well that turned out to be a total misread.
The deal the union got sucked wind. It was devastating to its membership. Here we sit a couple years later, and we can see the damage that is being caused.
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Hollywood Writers Out of Work
I stated it at the time and I will repeat it again: anyone who does not know what is going on technologically does not know what is going on.
It is really that simple.
The writers completely misread the situation. What was supposed to be a raise for its members resulted in a significant portion being out of work. A few of the lucky ones, yeah they are making more money. Unfortunately for the rest, they are out in the cold.
Per the report, TV writer jobs for the 2023-24 season declined by 42%, or 1,319 positions, to a total of 1,819 positions. Of those jobs, 642 were lost at the co-executive producer or higher level — a decline of 40% year over year — while lower-level positions, such as staff writers, story editors and executive story editors, fell by 378 positions, or 46%. Mid-level positions, from co-producers to consulting/supervising producers, declined by 42%, or 299 positions.
Those are horrific numbers no matter how you slice it. The situation sees 40% of the union out of work.
It was a predicable situation.
Anyone who is paying attention, or reading my articles, knows the studios screwed up with their jump into streaming. It is an across the board disaster. Disney, Paramount, and Peacock are all suffering losses. The heyday of content creation simply as a way to fill up a streaming application are long gone.
Of course, it was a likely outcome. The money lost was going to be looked at sooner or later.
The Next Wave
The union is going to be faced with another dilemma: AI.
Two years ago, this technology was in its infancy. At that time, many were claiming that AI would never be able to write a movie script.
Fast forward two years and that is no longer the case. We saw the jump in LLMs, producing improved output. The movie studios are already looking into AI generated content, something that will be unstoppable.
We also have to consider the fact that Hollywood is rapidly losing its place as the epicenter of the movie industry. China, as part of the trade war, is banning US made films. Overall, it isnt much of a loss for the movie studios since that business already dried up.
There is an "arms" race for the filming of movies and television programming. Not only are there a number of states pulling from California, Canada, London, and China are also having a major impact. As technology gets better, this will further spread the production out across the globe.
The WGA blamed the job declines on pay TV cord-cutting, a “massive run-up and then pullback in streaming series as Wall Street demands quicker streaming platform profits,” and studios’ “prolonged unwillingness to negotiate a fair deal in 2023.”
For the moment, this is probably the case. The pullback in streaming content has impacted all facets of the industry. However, there are geographic regions that are seeing their output increase.
The writers strike started in May of 2023. We are coming up on 2 years. It is amazing how much can change in such a short period of time.
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