Hollywood studios push back against striking writers' claim of ‘gig economy'

Roughly 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike on Tuesday, saying that studios had "created a gig economy inside a union workforce”.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents major studios such as Walt Disney and Netflix, said writing movies or TV shows in Hollywood "has almost nothing in common with standard 'gig' jobs”.

Most TV writers, the group said, are employed on a weekly or episodic basis, with a guarantee of a specified number of weeks or episodes.

In addition, writing comes with "substantial" benefits "that are far superior to what many full-time employees receive for working an entire year”, such as healthcare, pension plan contributions and paid parental leave.

Writers say they are working more and making less as studios have shifted their focus to streaming over traditional TV and cable.

The AMPTP said Guild data showed the median number of weeks of employment for a writer on a streaming series is between 20 and 24, which pays a minimum of $91,000, plus future residuals of more than $28,000 for a half-hour script and more than $41,000 for a one-hour script.

Writers note that they have to pay their agents and lawyers from their salaries, and that they may not find a writing gig for the rest of the year after their 24 weeks of pay.

The strike has shut down production of late-night talk shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and could disrupt the fall TV season.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Sandra Maler.)