Writers Strike Reaches 50 Days With No End In Sight

It’s been fifty days since Hollywood writers started a strike, and there’s no hint as to when it will end.
On June 21, 2023, about 1,000 Hollywood writers and their supporters marched and rallied in Los Angeles for new contracts with studios that will ensure payment guarantees and job security. The rally also expressed faith and confidence in attaining victory.
On Wednesday, speakers at the Writers Guild of America’s WGA Strong March and Rally for a Fair Contract mentioned the immense support for their cause shown by other Hollywood unions, which include actors in their own contract negotiations and labor at large.
Associated Press reported that at the end of the march at the La Brea Tar Pits, writer and a member of the guild’s board and its negotiating committee, Adam Conover said,

“We are going to win because they need us. Writers are the ones who stare at a blank page. We are the ones who invent the characters, tell the stories and write the jokes that their audiences love. They’d have nothing without us.”
Negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the organization representing studios, have been stuck since the writers’ contract expired on May 1. The strike was officially declared a day after that. It has now forced a number of productions to halt operations temporarily.
Hollywood stars are currently dealing with a similar situation with their own union’s negotiations. SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and the AMPTP have been negotiating a contract that will expire on June 30.
SAG-AFTRA members successfully voted earlier this month to approve a strike if an agreement fails to be made prior to the deadline.