The future of movies and television is up in the air after the first Hollywood writers strike in 15 years began Tuesday.
The Writers Guild of America West and East voted to strike after failing to reach a deal with major studios over the last six weeks.
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“Though our Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing,” the Writers Guild of America West tweeted late Monday night. “Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon,” the account added.
The board of directors of the WGA West and council of the WGA East made the decision to strike after six weeks of negotiating with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, and Sony, “under the umbrella” of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the WGA West said.
It is the first WGA strike in Hollywood since 2007, which lasted 100 days, per Vulture, and places lingering doubt over the future of the television companies, movie studios, and streaming platforms which rely on writers to bolster their success in the age of new media.
Writers have been vying for a larger percentage of the profit from streaming. If the strike continues, TV and movie production across California and the East Coast are likely to halt. Topical television, such as late-night talk shows, are likely to feel the brunt of the strike, as without writers to come up with jokes and material quickly, they will struggle to stay afloat.
Shortly after the strike was announced, talk shows, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, announced they are shutting down, per Deadline Hollywood.
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The WGA has 11,500 unionized screenwriters, per the Associated Press. As soon as the writers’ contracts ran out at midnight on Tuesday, the strike began.
