The 2023 “writers’ strike” was a union strike started by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP.) This strike was widely publicized amongst members of the media, including big-name actors and influencers. After 146 days, the strike came to a conclusion on September 27, 2023, after beginning months earlier, in May of the same year.
2023 was not the first time that the WGA went on strike against AMPTP. In 2007, the WGA began to strike due to the changing environment of television and film consumption. The increase of DVD and New Media (internet) became a large issue for writers and smaller creators within the entertainment industry. They felt as though they were not getting their fair share of revenue that was produced by DVD and New Media.
As the years went on, there was a large societal shift in the way we consume film and television, which caused issues for the WGA, much like the ones 16 years earlier. However, rather than writers not profiting enough from DVD revenue, it has become a much larger issue with the increase in streaming services, and the minimal, unfair cut of streaming revenue going to writers.
Seeing as this strike took place in the modern ages, the proposed usage of Artificial Intelligence was also a large contributor to the strike. As AI becomes more advanced, it threatens creative fields, especially when it comes to film, television, and media as a whole.
The lack of human writers was felt drastically that year, even without the use of AI. The absence of writers for the almost five months when the strike took place was detrimental to not only the productions taking place at the time of the strike, but for many television series, a future issue as well.
Stranger Things is one of the many TV shows heavily affected by the impact this strike had upon the film industry. The Netflix series, which began in 2016, has attained a cult following since its release. This remained true, even with the noticeable three year gap in between seasons three and four’s release due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The characters in Stranger Things are, like in many Netflix shows, teenagers. However the actors portraying them are creeping up on the ages in which playing a teenager is both very difficult, and very awkward to do. Which is why the 2023 writers strike hit this particular series very hard.
The production of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things was brought to a massive halt when WGA began their strike, not beginning filming until January of 2024. As the strike concluded, production resumed, leaving this iconic show with a release date in 2025 (a decade after their first filmed season,) and the lingering question; Will fans return for the series finale, or will the delays be the death of this fanbase?
It wasn’t just individual productions that were affected by the absence of available writers, it was the industry as a whole that suffered. With the inability to produce scripted content came the rise in reality tv; a scriptless, easily produced way to pull in profit while the creative, hard-working writers put their jobs on the line for a chance at making a livable wage.
All chaos surrounding film production was put to an end when the AMPTP agreed to a contract with the WGA, in which they agreed on higher wages for writers, better benefits, and stricter regulations on the usage of AI. In short, the AMPTP had no choice but to agree to the WGA’s terms, because the show must go on, but the show cannot go on without writers.
