WGA Surveying Its Members About Key Issues To Address In Upcoming Film & TV Contract Talks
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The WGA West is asking its members to prioritize the issues they would most like to be addressed at the guild’s upcoming negotiations for a new film and TV contract. The current pact with management’s AMPTP – known as the Minimum Basic Agreement – expires on May 1. In a survey sent today to guild members, the union’s board said that “It is essential for the WGAW Board of Directors and MBA Negotiating Committee to understand the priorities of the Guild membership to prepare for negotiations. To that end, we invite you to take a short three-question survey through which you can communicate your top MBA priorities.”
Members are asked to select four areas of primary concern from a list of potential issues, and to rank them in order of importance. “This ranking is not a vote, but will help the Negotiating Committee understand members’ priorities,” the board said. “We will analyze these priorities by area of work as well as overall. Preserving pension and health benefits are ongoing priorities and therefore not included in this survey.”
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The issues include:
Addressing TV mini-rooms: “Writers’ rooms that occur before a series order is in place or between seasons are sometimes called ‘mini-rooms.’ Writers are generally paid minimum regardless of their level or episodic quote, may not be hired if there is a series order, and may see their mini-room compensation credited against their episodic fees if they are brought on staff.”
Establishing a foreign box office residual for feature films: “Credited feature writers currently receive no additional compensation for release of a feature film in foreign theatrical markets. Writers of TV episodes do receive additional residual compensation in foreign markets.”
Establishing minimums for comedy-variety series on streaming services: “There are currently no minimums for comedy-variety series made for streaming services.”
Improving 2017 MBA’s “span” provision for writer-producers: “First negotiated in 2017, this provision protects writers paid on a per-episode basis from having their compensation driven down toward Guild minimum by guaranteeing additional compensation for the extra weeks for certain writer-producers who make less than $350,000 per year.”
Improving compensation for staff writers by adding script fees and/or eliminating the ‘new writer discount’: “Currently, staff writer script fees are credited against weekly compensation. In addition, a company can elect to pay certain staff writers 75% of minimum for the first 14 weeks or 60% of minimum for the first seven weeks via the ‘new writer discount.’”
Improving diversity and inclusion in hiring: “Hiring and advancement of under-represented groups lags in the entertainment industry.”
Improving feature roundtable minimums: “Writers are hired to work together on a project and are paid a weekly minimum that can be pro-rated by the day.”
Improving minimum compensation and terms for writing teams in TV and features: “Members of a writing team generally split the relevant minimum, resulting in lower individual compensation and pension and health contributions.”
Improving options and exclusivity protections: “First negotiated in 2014, this MBA provision limits companies’ ability to hold writers or prevent them from developing if they make under $280,500 ($250,000 for children’s programs).”
Improving residuals for original TV and feature programming on streaming services: “Residuals for reuse of original SVOD (Streaming Video On-Demand) programming on streaming platforms are often lower than in traditional reuse markets and have not kept pace with the global growth of SVOD.”
Improving TV weekly minimums: “Staff writer and writer-producer weekly minimums apply to all writers working on dramas and comedies.”
Paid parenting leave: “The current guarantee, negotiated in 2017, is eight weeks unpaid leave.”
Requiring at least a two-step deal in theatrical contracts: “Over recent years, many screenwriter feature contracts have been reduced to one-step deals, which has contributed to lower screenwriter compensation and often leads to demands for unpaid work on additional drafts. A two-step guarantee would ensure compensation for an additional step, generally a rewrite, and promote the opportunity for studio feedback.”
Script fee parity across platforms: “Establish the same rate for a one-hour or half-hour script across broadcast, basic cable, pay TV and all SVOD platforms.”
Other: “Please provide details about the issue(s) in the comment box below.”
The guild’s preparations for contract negotiations are being played out against the backdrop of its seven-month-long battle with Hollywood’s talent agencies. Yesterday, the guild released a video that addressed one of its main complaints – that some of the major agencies are corporately related to production companies.
See the video here:
“Throughout the agency negotiation, writers and the Guild have made it clear that agency-owned production studios are not acceptable,” the guild told its members yesterday. “This piece of our agenda has often been overshadowed by a focus on the conversation over ending packaging fees. But the insidious threat of our representatives becoming our employers cannot be ignored. In response, some Guild members have prepared a video to explain the evolution of agency studios and why, if left unchecked, their existence will increasingly undermine compensation for all talent.”
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