There are many reasons the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have gone on strike, but foremost among them are higher pay and better residuals. Sadly, I have heard some people complain about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike because they think all Hollywood writers and actors are rich. Now this might be true of top stars like Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio, and top writers like Terry Rossio and David Knoepp, but it is not true of the average actor or writer. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, the average actor makes $27.73 an hour. That is far below the average hourly wage in California of $36.70. On top of that, one also has to take into account other factors impacting actors as well. First, many actors have agents and managers who receive a percentage of their pay, reducing the money they make even more. Second, because of the nature of their work, actors can go without a job for periods of time. Third, because the film and television industry is primarily based in California, many actors live and work there, where the cost of living is much higher than other parts of the country.
Like the average actor, the average writer is not paid particularly well by the film and television industry either. According to ZipRecruiter, the average pay for television writers is s $22.53 per hour, which, like actors, is below the average hourly wage in California of $36.70. Movie writers are paid a little better than either television writers or actors, but they still only make an average of $38.77 per hour, only slightly above California's average hourly wage. The plain truth is that many of the people complaining about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA being on strike probably make more than the average writer or actor in Hollywood.
As to residuals, I suspect they are not particularly good for the average writer and I know that they are not good for the average actor. My dear, late friend Vanessa Marquez, who played Ana Delgado on Stand and Deliver (1988) and Nurse Wendy Goldman on ER, once told me that she had received residual cheques as low as a few cents. Despite starring in a classic movie and a hit television show, both of which have been shown regularly since their original releases, Vanessa never made a lot of money from residuals. Jennifer Anniston might make millions of dollars in residuals from Friends. Actors with recurring roles on the show will make much, much less and bit players will get no residuals at all.
The amount of money paid to the average writer and actor can be contrasted with what the CEOs of the studios make. David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, who I believe many would agree is not a good CEO, made $39.3 million in 2022. Bob Bakish of Paramount Global made $32 million in 2022. Bob Iger, the head of Disney, can expect to earn $27 million this year. Not only is this more money than the average writer or actor makes, but it is more money than most of us can expect to make in a lifetime. Of course, what is really scary is that the CEOs of the various studios actually make less than CEOs in other industries.
Of course, much of the concern of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA goes beyond the average writer's and actor's meagre pay. Quite simply, they worry about being replaced. Artificial intelligence has been in the news of late, and both unions have their concerns about AI. The WGA's concern is that producers will use AI to create source material and write or re-write scripts. The WGA then wants strict regulations regarding the use of AI. As to SAG-AFTRA, they also have their own concerns about AI. Allegedly the AMPTP proposed that bit players could work for a day and afterwards their images could be generated by AI. According to the AMPTP, the bit players would have to give their consent and if their image generated by AI is used later they would be paid a "minimum wage." Naturally, SAG-AFTRA rejected such an idea outright. Of course, my thought is that no writer or actor should ever be replaced by AI. Given it doesn't really take talent to do their jobs, I could see where CEOs could be...
Bob Iger of Disney called the WGA and SAG-AFTRA's demands "not realistic." Well, I hope Mr. Iger reads this, because as a fan who pays his salary through watching movies and television shows, I think their demands are both realistic and reasonable. After all, when I pay for a ticket for a movie or watch a movie on a streaming service, I want my money to go to the writers and actors who made it, not an overpaid CEO who has little to no artistic input into movies and TV shows. The plain truth is that throughout the history of Hollywood, the average writer and actor has made very little in the way of money, often barely to live on. The plain truth is also that historically the studios have made money hand over fist. In 2022 alone studio revenue was more than $220 billion. It is time some of that wealth went to the people who actually make movies.
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