Rhea Seehorn (from left), Matt Jones, Bryan Cranston, writer Peter Gould and Betsy Brandt of the “Breaking Bad” cast and writing team speak in a picket line outside Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. last week (` Photo/ Chris Pizzallo)
California State Treasurer Fiona Ma sent letters to studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, urging them to negotiate “fair deals” to end the double strikes by film and television writers and actors.
Ma wrote letters to seven companies late last week: Netflix, Walt Disney Co., Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple, Paramount Global and Amazon in her capacity as treasurer and board member of state pension funds that serve public employees and teachers. In her message, she stressed the damage the ongoing labor dispute is causing to the state’s economy.
“The ramifications of these two strikes are crippling Hollywood and affecting the entire state. They affect countless companies, thousands of pension fund recipients and millions of Californians,” Ma wrote in a letter to Brian Roberts, chief executive officer of NBCUniversal-owned Comcast. “Their inability to reach an agreement threatens the industry’s ability to ensure that writing, acting and other positions in California are viewed as sustainable careers.”
Film and television writers, represented by the Writers Guild of America, have been on strike since early May. The WGA and the studios remain far apart on important issues, including minimum staffing for writer rooms and author access to viewership data on streaming services.
Actors represented by SAG-AFTRA joined the writers on the strike line in mid-July. SAG-AFTRA said it was still awaiting a response from the AMPTP on resuming negotiations. The double strikes have brought scripted film and television production to a virtual standstill in the state.
Ma, who is also a member of SAG-AFTRA, said the dispute has put an economic system vital to California’s economy at “significant risk.” For example, 15,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have been out of work for months because of the WGA strike, she said. About 20% of LA-area income comes from the entertainment industry or related industries, and more than 700,000 Californians are employed in the entertainment industry, Ma said.
Progress toward an agreement between the WGA and the studios has been slow, although the recent resumption of negotiations prompted a fleeting surge of cautious optimism.
Last week, after the WGA opposed the AMPTP’s Aug. 11 counter-proposal, the AMPTP publicly released a six-page summary, calling it a “comprehensive package that addresses all of the issues the Guild has identified as its top priorities.”
Many writers said it didn’t go nearly far enough, outraged by the studios’ tactic of leaking the details of their bid to the press. The WGA negotiating committee said it responded to the AMPTP’s counter-proposal on Aug. 15.
“Our priority is to end the strike so that valued members of the creative community can get back to what they do best and end the hardships that so many people and businesses serving the industry are suffering,” Carol said Lombardini, president of the studio alliance. said in a statement last week.
In addition to Ma, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli have also put pressure on AMPTP companies.
Lander earlier this month sent letters on behalf of five New York pension funds, urging Comcast, Paramount Global and Walt Disney Co. to end the strikes. DiNapoli also sent out letters earlier this year calling on AMPTP member companies to resolve the labor dispute “on terms that are fair to both workers and management.”
Comments are closed.