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☆ As Hollywood gets back to work, new rules bring new pain points
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The WGA won higher pay and residuals for its writers, provisions for minimum staff in television writers' rooms, and more, calling the agreement "exceptional." Advertisement"The conglomerates have the leverage," one TV agent put it. This model could lead to a show getting picked up, but it tended to use fewer writers than regular writers' rooms and pay them less. A third agent said some showrunners are grumbling that while mini-room writers' pay increased post-strike, studios kept the showrunners' pay the same. Marshall, an "Elsbeth" writer and WGA West board member, has been in three writers' rooms since the WGA contract took effect.

Persons: —, ProdPro, There's, I've, Zoe Marshall, Marshall, We're, Christian Simonds, Reed Smith, Simonds, Rolling Stone, Jonathan Handel, Puck, Handel Organizations: Service, SAG, WGA, Business, Netflix, Warners, Paramount, Otis College of Art, Hollywood, WGA West, Google, Rolling, Entertainment

☆ Hollywood writers union ratifies three-year labor contract after strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers walk the picket line outside Disney Studios in Burbank, California, U.S., July 25, 2023. Members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union walked off the job in July and were meeting studio negotiators again on Monday to try to reach an agreement. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney (DIS.N), Netflix (NFLX.O) and other media companies, said the contract "represents meaningful gains and protections for writers." "It is important progress for our industry that writers are back to work," the group said in a statement. Negotiators for the SAG-AFTRA actors union continued contract talks with studios on Monday.

Persons: Mike Blake, Meredith Stiehm, Walt Disney, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher, ”, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Lisa Richwine, Chris Reese, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Writers Guild of America, Disney Studios, REUTERS, WGA, SAG, UPS, Alliance, Television Producers, Walt, Netflix, Milken, Thomson Locations: Burbank , California, U.S, Hollywood, United States, Detroit, California

CNN —Members of the Writers Guild of America union ratified a new contract with Hollywood and television studios, the WGA said in a statement released Monday. Of the 8,525 valid votes cast, 99% of WGA members voted to ratify the new contract, which will last from September 25, 2023, through May 1, 2026, the release said. “The AMPTP member companies congratulate the WGA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents meaningful gains and protections for writers. The writers’ strike began in May and ended last month — after 148 days — following a tentative contract agreement made between the union and the AMPTP. The writers’ strike, coupled with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike, hobbled the entertainment industry’s ability to do business over the last few months.

Persons: ”, Meredith Stiehm, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, “, ’ Organizations: CNN, Writers Guild of America, Hollywood, WGA, Alliance, Television Producers, SAG, Netflix, Disney, Hollywood’s Locations: “

☆ Netflix investors voted 3-to-1 against hefty pay packages for top execs including co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix shareholders on June 1 voted against pay packages for top execs totaling up to $109 million. The WGA had urged Netflix investors to reject the pay packages amid the Hollywood writers' strike. Netflix shareholders voted on June 1 by a nearly three-to-one margin against rich 2023 pay packages for the company's top executives, according to a recent company filing. Amid the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike, the Writers Guild of America had called on Netflix investors to reject this year's executive pay raises. The prelim ary results of the advisory vote were in favor of the executive pay plan, the company announced the day of the meeting.

Persons: Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters, Reed Hastings, Meredith Stiehm, Peters Organizations: Netflix, WGA, Hollywood, Morning, Writers Guild of America, Hastings, Comcast

☆ Netflix investors voted against rich pay packages for the company's top execs amid the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix shareholders on Thursday voted against pay packages for top execs totaling up to $109 million. The WGA had urged Netflix investors to reject the pay packages amid the Hollywood writers' strike. Netflix shareholders on Thursday voted against executive pay packages totaling up $109 million for the company's top leaders, several outlets including the New York Times reported. Amid the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike, the Writers Guild of America had called on Netflix investors to reject this year's executive pay raises. Last year, only 26.9% of voted shares approved the pay packages for Netflix's top executives, which led the company to hold discussions with investors, according to the annual proxy statement.

Persons: Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters, Reed Hastings, Meredith Stiehm, Peters Organizations: Netflix, WGA, Hollywood, Morning, New York Times, Writers Guild of America, Hastings, Comcast

☆ Netflix shareholders reject sky-high executive pay packages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Netflix shareholders voted on Thursday to reject multi-million dollar pay packages for the company’s top executives including for co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesNetflix’s proposed executive pay packages for 2023 included up to $40 million for Sarandos, including base salary, a performance bonus and stock options. Netflix’s board, meanwhile, is able to disregard the results of this “say on pay” vote and approve executive compensation plans in spite of shareholder wishes. The board has already unanimously recommended voting for the pay packages. Last year, just 27% of Netflix shareholders approved of 2022 executive compensation packages.

Persons: Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters, ”, Meredith Stiehm, Frederic J . Brown, Peters, Reed Hastings, Spencer Neumann, David Hyman, Rachel Whetstone Organizations: New, New York CNN, Netflix, Writers Guild of America, Hollywood, WGA, Guild of America, Comcast, Getty, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: New York, Hollywood , California, AFP

While there have been improvements in diversity within writers' rooms in recent years, writers of color, women of color, disabled writers and LGBTQ+ writers in Hollywood still lag in opportunities. Demands for more compensation and larger writers' rooms may be newer concerns for what Hines refers to as the "upper echelon of writers," but this has been an unresolved struggle for underrepresented writers for years. "When it comes to the issues of writers of color, there's a constant feeling of being left out of the negotiation," Hines said. Many WGA members also believe the specific strike demands, including adding larger writers' rooms, offer a better chance for writers on the sidelines to join in. "That would be absolutely huge for all kinds of underrepresented writers, and disabled writers as well, because we are wildly underrepresented," said Jamey Perry, vice chair of the WGA's Disabled Writers Committee and "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" writer.

☆ A writer for FX's 'The Bear' went to the Writers Guild of America Awards with a negative bank account balance and won for Best Comedy Series. He's now applying for jobs at movie theaters as writers pr
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Writers Guild of America members are set to go on strike as their contract expires on May 1. A 28-year-old writer for FX's award-winning series "The Bear" said he's looking for jobs at movie theaters as members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) prepare to go on strike Tuesday to demand better pay from studios. The writers won the Best Comedy Series award that evening, beating "Abbott Elementary" and "Barry." O'Keefe told The New Yorker that his compensation does not add up to much after accounting for representative fees and taxes. A showrunner told Insider that first-time and newer writers could make around $40,000 to 60,000 for ten weeks of work.

☆ Insiders cast doubt on Warner Bros. Discovery's plans after it axed, then reinstated, a revered TV writers' workshop. It highlights a 'huge crisis' facing Hollywood creatives.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Discovery abruptly axed, then reinstated, its longstanding TV writers' training program. Numerous TV writers told Insider they would not have been able to establish their careers without the TV workshop. The WBTV workshops not only developed emerging talents, but also helped ease their way into paid work in Hollywood. But even with Zaslav examining every asset across the company to find a promised $3 billion in synergies, the WBTV writers' and directors' workshops seemed unlikely targets. "The training is just phenomenal," a third alum of the writers' workshop told Insider.

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