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Neva Hudson
Film students and teachers have been processing results of the Writers Guild of America union’s agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers made on Sept. 27.
Senior Campbell Carpenter hopes to pursue a career in the film industry after graduating high school. He attended the Toronto International Film Festival while the writers strike was taking place. He followed the strike in the news as it unfolded, and the events influenced what he is looking for when entering the industry.
“I think the demands that the writers were asking for are very just,” Carpenter said. “It’s crazy to me how studios that have billions of dollars would not budge for so long.”
Members of the WGA began striking on May 2, making the total length of the strike 148 days — the second-longest in Hollywood history. English teacher Brian Cappello wasn’t surprised that the strike lasted as long as it did.
“It doesn’t surprise me that it took so long,” Cappello said. “When you’re talking about human greed, that has no limits.”
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — made up of roughly 160,000 professional actors and performers — joined the strike on July 14. According to Vox, the strike cost the state of California $3 billion.
“It’s also a moral issue, I think that it’s completely immoral that they would just thrust aside the writers and all the craftsmen in pursuit of the dollar,” Cappello said. “It’s disgusting to me.”
The Memorandum of Agreement increased minimum salaries for writers by 5%, implementing more secure benefits and health care plans. It also placed specific detailed limitations on the use of artificial intelligence in screenwriting, an area where there was previously no restrictions.
“I’m definitely going to make an effort to put myself in front of people who are on the more independent side of the industry,” Carpenter said. “People who are actually making the movies that will be remembered for years to come.”
Over the course of the time WGA and SAG-AFTRA were on strike, the film community became unsure of how it would impact the future of the industry.
“Part of me when the strike was going on was like, ‘Oh shoot, do I even want to be in this industry where you’re treated very poorly?’” Carpenter said. “But it did make me see how far [the writers and actors] will go for what they believe in.”
The production of many highly-anticipated movies and shows were held up by the strikes, from season five of “Stranger Things” to season two of “The Last of Us.” For other projects like “Dune: Part 2,” release dates have been pushed back indefinitely.
Although the WGA has reached an agreement with the AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA continues negotiations and has not yet resolved their demands with large streaming services. They are asking for similar changes to be made, with their primary focus being on the threat artificial intelligence poses to their profession.
“AI is changing everything and it’s scary to think that studio executives would willingly sacrifice all the human work to take the easy way out,” Cappello said. “I just think it’s a shame that they would even consider using AI as opposed to human product.”
According to Harper’s Bazaar, this is a concern held by many industry writers. Streaming companies could produce work using AI as a cheaper alternative to paying humans or craft scripts directly imitating the style and inflection of writers with work publicly available for the AI to study and attempt to replicate.
The industry is now gradually returning to normalcy after months of shutdowns. According to Vox, talk shows will be the first thing to begin airing again, while high-budget movie productions will be held up for much longer.
“I think we’re just scratching the surface when it comes to factors like AI,” Cappello said. “There’s so many positive things that can come out of [the strike], but the potential for negative consequences is just as great.”
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