The WGA strike agreement offers the perfect marriage between AI use and labor
It may just change the American labor landscape
“The Writer’s Strike is Over!” newsletters and official writers’ markets announced triumphantly, and yes, there is much to celebrate. The strike lasted over 100 days and there were anonymous executives telling Deadline: “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”
Ron Perlman had something to say about that, rebuking the executive by letting him know he would cause families to starve. What followed that statement were a few choice words I stood up and applauded.
I love Ron Perlman.
Some folks didn’t get it
I ran into people, even in the progressive liberal space, who felt the writer’s strike was much ado about nothing. “Why don’t you get another job,” one such yokel glibly asked me in a let-them-eat-cake fashion. I have been working in the creative and graphics industry for over two decades. I am also in my 50s, ageism is a thing, and I have an autoimmune disorder as well as an autistic son, but yeah, let me go fill out an application at Walmart to pay my mortgage and medical bills I guess?
Another derided the American Couch Potato by declaring, “I don’t watch TV and I find it to be the fodder of malcontents and low-lifes.” He went on to say that no particular industry would last forever and that he preferred theater.
Well, bully for you Old Chap.
What elitist, narcissistic tripe!
Not everyone has money for theater or even enjoys attending those types of events. FYI, attending a type of entertainment or enjoying a particular type of media does not make you more intelligent, special, or better.
Get over yourself!
TV and micro entertainment provide a wide range of affordable options in different mediums, allowing for everyone's tastes and budgets. Do they seriously think the only people who should have access to a little bit of steam-releasing fun are the rich?
The world does not and should not revolve around one individual’s personal enjoyment!
The terms of the contract
The WGA agreement with the AMPTP appears to have wide-ranging implications for American labor overall, in spite of some people’s holier-than-thou attitudes about the industry.
Just what did the WGA snag for the grunts working 12 hours a day in sweaty, closed writers’ rooms to bring dragons and drama to the masses?
Mashable had some of the best breakdowns for mass consumption, excerpts below:
AI can't be used to write scripts
The new agreement affirms that AI is not considered a writer, and anything it generates can't be considered literary, assigned, or source material. It does leave room for writers to use artificial intelligence as a tool, provided the production company consents. However writers can't be compelled to use AI to create material, and the company must disclose if they give a writer AI-generated material to work with. (Read more on this aspect here)
Now, here is the gravy that we were all waiting for and the agreement was swank! I seriously feel every job that may be impacted by AI in the future should use this as a paradigm.
It allows for the ethical use of a technology that is not going to go away, instead, it will become faster and even better as time goes on. By formalizing an agreement on how to use it and protect workers simultaneously, the WGA was able to provide the ability to guard creative and other IP-related jobs.
Nioce!
As stated previously, Mashable reporter Amanda Yeo perfectly explains things here in ways I envy—full article here:
Better streaming residuals and transparency regarding numbers
A big talking point going into the strike was the compensation (or relative lack thereof) that writers receive from streaming services. The new deal will see this get boosted in a big way, with large increases to foreign streaming residual payments and a new bonus based on streamer viewership. The former will now be based on a streamer's foreign subscribers, amounting to a 76 percent increase in residuals from the largest platforms, while "a bonus equal to 50 percent of the fixed domestic and foreign residual" will be payable on films or series viewed by 20 percent or more of a platform's domestic subscribers in the first 90 days.
Increased minimum rates for writers
At the beginning of May, the WGA was demanding annual minimum rate increases of 5 to 6 percent, while the AMPTP was offering 2 to 4 percent. Under September's tentative agreement, most minimums will be increasing by 5 percent this year, followed by 4 percent in 2024 and 3.5 percent in 2025. A list of current minimums can be found on the WGA website.
Minimum staffing for TV writers' rooms
Back in May, the WGA was asking for one writer per episode on anything up to a six-episode TV season, then a writer for every two episodes after that (up to a maximum of 12 writers in total). The AMPTP rejected this and refused to counter. Clearly solid progress has been made, though, because the new proposed deal outlines minimum staffing numbers for writers and writer-producers across seasons of varying lengths (three writers, including three writer/producers for a series of six episodes or less, moving up to six writers, including three writer/producers, on a series of 13+ episodes).
Respect for workers
Writers have always been treated like the red-headed stepchildren of the industry since time immemorial, even though we are the lifeblood of filmmaking. I recall someone advocating against remote work setups for television writers because they felt groveling in person to receive an eventual job was a rite of passage. See, after a few years of coffee schlepping, humiliation, and kissing the ring, they we able to get in a writer’s room.
Trade my human dignity for a job?
Yeah. No thanks!
To be clear, I am not advocating that writers become Norma Desmond-style divas holding up production until their pet ideas are added to the pilot. Rather, I am advocating for mutual respect.
Dude, I have run into producers who tried their best to gouge writers in an effort to maximize their own profits. In such cases, writers were often made to feel like primadonnas for even daring to ask for as little as 2-5% of a hefty film budget, which was the WGA minimum standard in some cases.
Ask for streaming? You greedy minion you! Begone!
I came to believe I would be labeled as “difficult” for the mere discussion of being fairly compensated for my ideas. Encased in this passive-aggressive threat was always the subtle sneer of—“I will tell people you are hard to work with.”
That kept writers and artists in line for decades and even writing for “exposure” which never did amount to much in many cases. I am crossing my fingers that some of this changes—at least for a little while.
Changing the work landscape
In my humble opinion, the WGA has laid the groundwork for how American workers should be treated and the common sense incorporation of artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence is a misnomer—it is Big Language Modeling but that is another rant for another day.)
The movers and shakers and those who invest in the film are important, but so are the people who enable them to realize their investment and efforts.
This is true across all industries!
The WGA showed folks how it is done when it comes to using emerging tech to the creative’s benefit. Harness, do not destroy this new tech, and draw a line in the sand in regard to what can and should be done when it comes to human labor.
The Writer’s Guild also provided the perfect balance between those who greenlight projects and the people who will bring art to life. These folks often stand to make billions— they can cut off a chunk for the individual whose ideas the projects are based on.
If we can take some of the basics of the agreement and craft a key business template, we may be able to start a labor revolution that finally allows workers at every level to get the respect and compensation they deserve.
And it will be partly because writers took a hit and a stand for 100 days.
Take THAT annoying, pompous, elitist theatre snob dude!
Awesome summary, Alicia! This is really cool. "The new agreement affirms that AI is not considered a writer, and anything it generates can't be considered literary, assigned, or source material."
Really insightful! Thanks for sharing.