| Friend, Streaming networks announced their quarterly profits recently, and they are obnoxious. In just three months, HBO Max made $50 million. Apple TV+ contributed to Apple’s $20.9 billion quarter. Paramount+’s revenue increased by 50%.(1) But the writers of the amazing shows that are responsible for these profits are being paid less and less every year. We know this story all too well. Fortunately, screenwriters have a union--the Writers Guild of America--the majority of whose members are in California. And they are on strike right now to demand better conditions, which means while CEOs rake in millions of dollars, thousands of employees are out of work and unpaid. Help put pressure on streaming networks by signing on to our call to support screenwriters!
Here’s the situation: Before the age of streaming, writers would be hired for a show and be able to make money for the season, and often through syndication and other residuals. Streaming changed all that. Now not only is there no syndication or other residuals anymore, but writers are only being hired at minimum wages for “mini rooms” of just a few episodes and then traded for other writers for less money.(2) And with AI on the rise, corporations are looking into the possibility of using human writers for just the beginning of a show and then letting computers write the rest off the backs of their work. So while writers are finding it harder to even make a living, CEOs are making more money than ever. The CEO overseeing HBO Max made $250 million in 2021 alone.(3) This isn’t just about Hollywood. It’s another example of corporations abusing the workers who are responsible for their record profits. And writers of color are suffering the worst--Sony, Apple TV+, and the rest are hiring writer pools that are less than 6% Latinx and other people of color, and the new systems are keeping them in those mini rooms instead of advancing them.(4) We all benefit from the art that writers produce, and we should have their backs now. Will you add your name to our coalition’s petition calling on studio executives to pay writers fairly?
Yours in the fight for fairness, Irene, along with Annie, Angela, Isidra, Lindsay, Mai, Mai, and Scottie (and the rest of the Courage team) Footnotes:  |
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