The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since the beginning of May after many unsatisfying meetings with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). According to ComicBook, Tony Gilroy (Duplicity, The Bourne Legacy), creator of Star Wars: Andor, mentioned that if an agreement isn’t reached soon, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) will join the WGA on strike as they continue to fight for protection against artificial intelligence and more reliable pay structure.
Gilroy has been speaking up about the negligent actions of studios. Gilroy has been a director, producer and writer for many years, he was even present in the film and television industry in the previous writers strike before the current one. The previous one occurred in 2007 and lasted 100 days spanning into 2008. The current strike is on day 72.
According to Gilroy, the guild took a worse deal in 2007 than they should have, this makes for an even bigger fight this time around and the WGA is giving it their all. Gilroy said in regards to the strike that he “think[s] this is the existential battle I thought we were having in 2007. To my great disappointment we settled that strike prematurely. I think those problems were deferred. I think there are structural problems that need to be met.”
What exactly are these structural problems that Gilroy is referring to? It’s noted that the WGA is looking for guaranteed time for staff writing jobs and fair pay for works, especially on streaming titles. Two of the biggest threats to the WGA are artificial intelligence and streaming platforms, it’s a major reason this strike has been so debilitating.
Gilroy mentioned that he “think[s] SAG and the Writers Guild are trying to preserve our industry. In such a strange way, we’ve become the creators and the interpreters, the creative community are becoming the protectors of this industry, this huge industry that people love. And the caretakers on the other side, I think they’re being recklessly careless.”
The last thing any writers want is for studios and the Writers Guild to be careless when it comes to decision making, but Gilroy says that if a deal is not met by Wednesday, the the strike will grow larger and SAG-AFTRA will join the WGA on strike.
Hopefully Gilroy is right when he states, “I think in the end this time the guilds will prevail.”