Regardless of whether the strike is declared this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several months.
“I think we’re in for a long strike, and they’re going to let them bleed out,” said an industry veteran familiar with the viewpoint of studio executives.
With the writers’ strike in its 71st day and the actors’ union just 30 hours away from a potential strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers plans to dig in this fall before even considering the idea of starting negotiations.
Extending the strike to the point of ruining screenwriters
While some dismiss this statement as “cynical strike talk,” studio sources confirm the strategy. They also confirm that the plan to dismantle the guild has been in the works for a long time, anticipating a labor cycle that all parties agree will change the rules of the Hollywood game.
“It was agreed upon months ago, even before the WGA went on strike,” said an executive. “Nobody wanted a strike, but everyone knew this was make-or-break.”
Upon receiving a positive response from Wall Street since the WGA declared the strike on May 2nd, Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount, and others have decided to “break the WGA,” as boldly stated by a studio executive.
To achieve this, the studios believe that by October, the majority of writers will have run out of money after five months on the picket lines and without work.
“The ultimate goal is to drag things out until union members start losing their apartments and homes,” said an executive to Deadline. While acknowledging the coldness of this approach, other sources reiterated the statement. One of them described it as “cruel but necessary.”
The next step the studios envision is that financially struggling writers would turn to the WGA leadership, demanding that negotiations be resumed before what could be a very bleak holiday season.
In that context, the studios believe they would be in a position to dictate most of the terms of any potential agreement. Yes, it is cruel and inhumane.
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