It was with boos and screams that the CEO of the American production company Warner Bros, David Zaslav, was welcomed on stage at Boston University on Monday, May 22. A former law student at this establishment, David Zaslav was invited to participate in the graduation ceremony.
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Committed students
During his speech, the students protested his presence by turning their backs on him, waving signs, and interrupting him with cries of “Pay your screenwriters!” “. Their goal ? Demonstrate their support for American screenwriters, who have been on strike since May 2.
This was not the only action of the day: simultaneously, nearly 200 people gathered at the gates of Boston University, to remind studio bosses that “Boston is a union city”.
A generalized strike
It’s a first since 2007: the writing rooms of Hollywood studios, in Los Angeles, and in New York are empty. The screenwriters have exchanged scripts for series against protest slogans, their pens against signs. 11,000 members of the Writers Union of America (WGA) began a strike at the beginning of May to demand an improvement in working conditions, threatened by the uberization of the profession, and the advent of artificial intelligence .
In front of the screenwriters: the studios – Warner Bros, Disney and CBS in particular – but also the streaming platforms like Amazon or Netflix. As a reminder, studio profits have increased by 39% in ten years. The average salary of a screenwriter has fallen by 4% over the same period.
“The studios try to turn our work into a series of odd jobs and make it impossible to have a career”protests to AFP Sarah Fischer, on a picket in front of Warner.
Long-term protests?
The immediate effect of the walkouts has been the suspension of several American Talk Shows, as well as the appearance of additional production delays, which will delay the release of many series, including “Yellowjackets”, the comedy “Abbott Elementary” and the highly anticipated season 5 of “Stranger Things”.
“Pencils are off in the Cobra Kai writing room,” wrote writer and director Jon Hurwitz on Twitter. Season 6 of the “Karate Kid” movie sequel will have to wait for “a fair deal.”
We hate to strike, but if we must, we strike hard. Pencils down in the Cobra Kai writers room. No writers on set. These aren’t fun times, but it’s unfortunately necessary. The moment a fair deal is in place, we’ll get back to kicking ass. In the meantime, sending strength and… https://t.co/99UulF7HeW
— Jon Hurwitz (@jonhurwitz) May 2, 2023
No one knows when this showdown between screenwriters and studios will end, but if the strikers are inspired by previous social movements, it is possible that the conflict will not be resolved before September: in 2007, the screenwriters’ strikes lasted 100 days and had accounted for over $2 billion in Hollywood losses.
Source : Nouvelobs
I have been working as a journalist for over 10 years. In that time, I have covered the news from all corners of the world, and written about everything from politics to business.I’m now a full-time author, and my work can be found at Global happenings. My aim is to bring you up-to-date news and views on global affairs, in a format that is easy to read and understand.
