WGA/SAGAFTRA Strike Discussion Thread | Talks to Resume?

[Eric Ross]

 

Please note that while a strike is not inevitable, it does seem likely to occur beginning on May 1. So here's the thread to talk about all this. While I know many people will want to talk about how this impacts Marvel or whatever, I do think it's important that we acknowledge that movies are not what should be focused on, and that fair wages and better pay is the main priority.

[YM!]

Good for the writers. Hope they get what they need.

[BadOlCatSylvester]

Here's a sneak peek into the Oscar-worthy writing we can expect to see in the next year or two. Thunderbolts is currently set to start filming a month into this potential strike, so we can expect that to be Revenge of the Fallen for today's generation.

[grim22]

47 minutes ago, BadOlCatSylvester said:

Here's a sneak peek into the Oscar-worthy writing we can expect to see in the next year or two. Thunderbolts is currently set to start filming a month into this potential strike, so we can expect that to be Revenge of the Fallen for today's generation.

Time for Florence Pugh to pull a Daniel Craig and start writing dialogue and plot on set.

[AMC Theaters Enjoyer]

If this goes through, lot of movies/shows are about to get cancelled, delayed or put out in bad shape. The next two years’ slate especially is gonna change a lot. 

 

At least I know what to talk about with my boss this week. 

Edited April 17 by AMC Theaters Enjoyer

[keysersoze123]

1 hour ago, BadOlCatSylvester said:

Here's a sneak peek into the Oscar-worthy writing we can expect to see in the next year or two. Thunderbolts is currently set to start filming a month into this potential strike, so we can expect that to be Revenge of the Fallen for today's generation.

Transformers 2 would have sucked big time strike or no strike. its not as if next 2 movies by Bay were classics. Back in 2009 we had very well reviewed movies as well like Star Trek, Up, Hangover etc. 

[AMC Theaters Enjoyer]

3 minutes ago, keysersoze123 said:

Transformers 2 would have sucked big time strike or no strike. its not as if next 2 movies by Bay were classics. Back in 2009 we had very well reviewed movies as well like Star Trek, Up, Hangover etc. 

 

hey hey hey no Dark Of The Moon slander

[poweranimals]

Doesn't this charade happen every year?

[Mojoguy]

Studios just give the writers whatever they want! Movie theaters can't survive more movie delays after covid shutdowns and whatever hell 2021 was.

 

Audiences are finally coming back and you want to risk alienation them?

[grim22]

48 minutes ago, keysersoze123 said:

Transformers 2 would have sucked big time strike or no strike. its not as if next 2 movies by Bay were classics. Back in 2009 we had very well reviewed movies as well like Star Trek, Up, Hangover etc. 

 

Star Trek still had limitations as they couldn't do rewrites on set - look up Abrams' many interviews about it. Up isn't covered by the WGA due to animated features having a different rule.

 

The bigger effect was on studio pipelines. WB had to move Harry Potter by 8 months because the next summer movies would have not been ready in time due to the delays.

[CoolioD1]

quantum of solace was probably the blockbuster most hurt by the writers strike since that probably had the most upwards potential to be good but they only had an earlyish draft to work with, with Craig doing a lot of rewriting himself.

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

1 hour ago, grim22 said:

Time for Florence Pugh to pull a Daniel Craig and start writing dialogue and plot on set.

Well, she's already experienced at ghost directing, so screenwriting should be a piece of cake. /s

 

Hollywood TV/movies and screenwriting practices have changed so much since 2007 or even 2017, a strike wouldn't surprise me at all. In the short term, I fear we're going to get a lot of unofficial ChapGPT scripts cleaned up under the table by producer/executive assistants.

[grim22]

 

 

2 minutes ago, BoxOfficeFangrl said:

Well, she's already experienced at ghost directing, so screenwriting should be a piece of cake. /s

 

Hollywood TV/movies and screenwriting practices have changed so much since 2007 or even 2017, a strike wouldn't surprise me at all. In the short term, I fear we're going to get a lot of unofficial ChapGPT scripts cleaned up under the table by producer/executive assistants.

That's one of the negotiating points - how much AI can be used for movie scripts.

[eddyxx]

Hopefully studios will give them a bone. This is not the ideal time for a slowdown with Hollywood still healing from covid.

[filmlover]

I give it 50/50 the strike actually happens for now. it's looking more likely than not at this point but hey, stranger things have happened - we already avoided a strike in 2017 and discussions will certainly be ongoing until the last minute even with CinemaCon taking up the majority of the attention next week.

[WorkingonaName]

Transformers 2 is better then most movies today. 

[TheDude391]

5 hours ago, grim22 said:

Star Trek still had limitations as they couldn't do rewrites on set

Would they not have been allowed to improvise on set during the strikes too? But that doesn't surprise me, very little of that film makes much sense lol.

[grim22]

8 hours ago, TheDude391 said:

Would they not have been allowed to improvise on set during the strikes too? But that doesn't surprise me, very little of that film makes much sense lol.

 

From an article around that time

 

Quote

Neither J.J. nor Damon are writers on the movie. But they are writers, and WGA members. During a WGA strike, you’re not allowed to write on movies or television shows, period. So they can’t change a word of the script, nor can anyone else. The script they had at 11:59 p.m. November 5th is the script they have to shoot.

To a screenwriter, that might seem kind of awesome. For once, the director can’t change things. But when its your own movie, it’s maddening. J.J. was describing a scene he was shooting the day before. Midway through it, he got a great idea for a new line. Which he couldn’t write. Couldn’t shoot. Couldn’t be in his movie.
 

Damon described it like having one of your superpowers taken away.
 

You can absolutely make a movie without changing the script. Big Fish and Charlie were shot just like they were written. But to not even have the option of changing something is a bizarre restriction, like making a Dogme 95 film with a $100 million budget. As feature writers, we’re constantly asking to be included in production, on the call sheet, on the set. Suddenly, we’re completely removing ourselves from the process.

 

Actors are allowed to come up with lines which the director can agree to, but nothing new can be written by WGA members once the strike date arrives.

[dudalb]

23 hours ago, eddyxx said:

Hopefully studios will give them a bone. This is not the ideal time for a slowdown with Hollywood still healing from covid.

Not so much from COvid but from streaming in general. I think the loss to streaming would have happened without Covid, Covid just speeded up the process.

Not surprised that the use of AI will be a major issue. I hate the idea of AI writing scripts; you know quality would taek a huge hit.

[scytheavatar]

7 hours ago, dudalb said:

Not so much from COvid but from streaming in general. I think the loss to streaming would have happened without Covid, Covid just speeded up the process.

Not surprised that the use of AI will be a major issue. I hate the idea of AI writing scripts; you know quality would taek a huge hit.

Quality of writing in recent movies/shows, even well received ones like John Wick 4, have been so bad that I am not sure how AI can't make things better. If you can't write better than a computer then your writing skills suck and you shouldn't complain about computers eating your lunch.