NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The first Hollywood strike in 15 years began Tuesday as the economic pressures of the streaming era prompted unionized TV and film writers to picket for better pay outside major studios, a work stoppage that is leading most late-night shows to air reruns.
鈥淣o contracts, no content!鈥� sign-carrying members of the Writers Guild of America chanted outside the Manhattan building where NBCUniversal was touting its Peacock streaming service to advertisers.
Some 11,500 film and television writers represented by the union put down their pens and laptops after failing to reach a new contract with the trade association that represents Hollywood studios and production companies.
The union is seeking higher minimum pay, more writers per show and shorter exclusive contracts, among other demands 鈥� all conditions it says have been diminished in the content boom driven by streaming.
鈥淭here鈥檚 too much work and not enough pay,鈥� said demonstrator Sean Crespo, a 46-year-old writer whose credits include the former TBS show 鈥淔ull Frontal With Samantha Bee.鈥�
The labor dispute could have a cascading effect on TV and film productions depending on how long the strike lasts, and it comes as streaming services are under growing pressure from Wall Street to show profits.
Late-night television was the first to feel the fallout, just as it was during the 2007 writers strike that last for 100 days.
All of the top late-night shows, which are staffed by writers that pen monologues and jokes for their hosts, immediately went dark. NBC鈥檚 鈥淭he Tonight Show,鈥� Comedy Central鈥檚 鈥淒aily Show,鈥� ABC鈥檚 Jimmy Kimmel Live,鈥� CBS鈥檚 鈥淭he Late Show鈥� and NBC鈥檚 鈥淟ate Night鈥� all made plans for reruns through the week.
NBC declined to comment on plans for 鈥淪aturday Night Live." The sketch show is scheduled to air a new episode Saturday hosted by Pete Davidson.
鈥淓veryone including myself hope both sides reach a deal. But I also think that the writers鈥� demands are not unreasonable,鈥� host Stephen Colbert said on Monday's 鈥淟ate Show.鈥�
鈥淭his nation owes so much to unions," Colbert said. "Unions are the reason we have weekends, and by extension why we have TGI Fridays.鈥�
The strike's impact on scripted series and films will take longer to notice; those with finished scripts are permitted to continue shooting. During the 2007 strike, late-night hosts eventually returned to air and improvised their way through shows. 鈥淭onight鈥� show host Jay Leno angered WGA leadership when he began writing his own monologues.
One late-night show won't go dark. Fox News' 鈥淕utfeld!鈥� with Greg Gutfeld will continue airing new episodes, Fox said Tuesday.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and productions companies, said it presented an offer with 鈥済enerous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.鈥�
The trade association said in a statement that it was prepared to improve its offer 鈥渂ut was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon."
A shutdown has been widely forecast for months. The writers last month , with 98% of membership in support. Writers say their pay isn't keeping pace with inflation, TV writer rooms have shrunk too much and .
Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But writers say they鈥檙e making less than they used to while working under more strained conditions. The WGA said 鈥渢he companies鈥� behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce.鈥�
The union is seeking more compensation for writers up front. That's because many of the payments writers have historically profited from on the back end 鈥� like syndication and international licensing 鈥� have been largely phased out by the onset of streaming.
The studios' trade association said Monday that the primary sticking points to a deal revolved around so-called mini-rooms 鈥� the guild is seeking a minimum number of scribes per writer room 鈥� and the duration of employment contracts.
The writer's union has said more flexibility for writers is needed when they鈥檙e contracted for series that have tended to be shorter-lived than the once-standard 20-plus episode broadcast season. They are also seeking more regulation around the use of artificial intelligence, which writers say threatens to give producers a shortcut to finishing a WGA writer's work.
鈥淯nderstand that our fight is the same fight that is coming to your professional sector next: it鈥檚 the devaluing of human effort, skill, and talent in favor of automation and profits," said the writer-director Justine Bateman.
Many studios and production companies are slashing spending. The Walt Disney Co. is . Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting costs to lessen its debt. Netflix has pumped the breaks on spending growth.
Films will take longer to be affected, and if a strike persisted through the summer, fall TV schedules could be upended. Meantime, not having writers available for rewrites can have a dramatic effect on quality.
The James Bond film 鈥淨uantum of Solace鈥� was one of many films rushed into production during the 2007-2008 strike with what Daniel Craig regretfully called 鈥渢he bare bones of a script.鈥�
鈥淭here was me trying to rewrite scenes 鈥� and a writer I am not,鈥� Craig later recounted.
With a walkout long expected, writers have rushed to get scripts in and studios have sought to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for at least the short term. But the loss to local economies can be considerable. Los Angeles is estimated to have lost $2.1 billion in economic output during the last strike.
鈥淲e鈥檙e assuming the worst from a business perspective,鈥� David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said last month. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got ourselves ready. We鈥檝e had a lot of content that鈥檚 been produced.鈥�
Overseas series could also fill some of the void. 鈥淲e have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,鈥� Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-chief executive, said on the company鈥檚 earnings call in April.
More demonstrations were planned throughout Los Angeles on Tuesday, and through the week.
The WGA strike may only be the beginning. Contracts for both the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, expire in June. Some of the same issues around the business model of streaming will factor into those bargaining sessions. The DGA is set to begin negotiations with AMPTP on May 10. ___
Associated Press' Aron Ranen and David Bauder contributed to this report.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
