The Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike on May 2,2023, with the actors of the SAG-AFTRA union accompanying them on July 13.
Both unions are striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
With the WGA and SAG-AFTRA unions going on strike, it has caused many delays of the most anticipated TV shows and movies right now.

“Due to the strike, the third season of Euphoria has now been pushed to 2025, all production of Abbot Elementary is on pause for now, and Seth McFarlane is stepping away from American Dad and Family Guy which affects both productions moving forward,” journalist Kelly Boyle said in an article for TV Insider.

Writers and actors are stepping away from our favorite TV shows and movies- but, what are the writers and actors actually striking for?

In her article for Today News, Journalist Lindsay Lowe said, “One of the strike’s key demands is higher compensation.”
According to a recent WGA report, “the median weekly writer-producer pay has declined 23 percent in the last decade.”

Because writers aren’t being fairly compensated for their work, it makes it harder to find a steady writing job on a show with the rise of streaming platforms.

“The binge-able, big-budget shows made for streamers are typically shorter and renewed with less consistency,” said Lowe, “writers have to scramble from job to job.”

Because shows made for streaming platforms are being canceled more often, there is no telling if writers or actors get to keep that particular job or not. Another reason the writers and actors are striking is because of the use of AI.

In her article for the Washington Post, Analyst Caelyn Pender said, “There are concerns that AI could generate scripts without them. For the actors, there are concerns that studios could use AI to replicate previous performances.”

With the use of AI on the rise, studios don’t have to hire actors for their movies and can utilize AI instead, and writers could be out of a job due to AI writing scripts.

In an article for NBC News, journalists Chloe Melas and Daniel Arkin said that, “the WGA presented a [their] own counter proposal to the AMPTP on August 15th”.

The future of the entertainment industry is in the hands of the AMPTP if they are able to come to an agreement with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA unions.

The unions have not contacted each other in 3 weeks. Well-known showrunners are going impatient and are pushing for the union leaders to meet.

“Union officials are scheduled to meet with Kenya Barris (“Black-ish”), Noah Hawley (“Fargo”), Dan Fogelman (“This Is Us”) and other restless showrunners in the coming days,” says journalists John Koblin, Nicole Sperling, and Brooks Barnes in their article for the New York Times.

There is no set date for this meeting currently. Other than these plans, there is no end in sight for the dual ongoing strikes.