Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin predicts how long the WGA strike will last and compares current events to a record-breaking 1980s strike.
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin shares his thoughts on the ongoing writers’ strike, predicting how long it will last while also comparing it to similar events in the 1980s. In early May, the WGA went on strike to fight for fair pay and issues related to AI (among other things). In mid-July, SAG-AFTRA joined the writers on strike, essentially shutting down Hollywood.
Now, Martin has commented on the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in a new blog post on his website. The author outlines just why the strikes are happening and expects them to last for quite some time. He likens the current strike to two-week WGA strike that occurred in 1985, but it’s likely that he actually means the 1988 strike, which holds the record as the longest strike in the guild’s history. Check out some of Martin’s comments below:
“As for the writers… well, the studios are not even TALKING to us. All negotiations between AMPTP and the WGA shut down back in May when the strike started. It is hard to reach any agreement when the other side won’t even come to the table.
“I joined the WGA in 1986 and have been through several strikes with them. We made gains in all of them, but some issues are more important than others… and this year’s strike is the most important of my lifetime. An unnamed producer was quoted last week saying the AMPTP strategy was to stand fast until the writers started losing their homes and apartments, which gives you a hint of what we’re facing.
“But we ARE facing it. I have never seen such unity in the Guilds; the strike authorization votes for both SAG and WGA were as close to unanimous as we are ever likely to see.
“No one can be certain where we go from here, but I have a bad feeling that this strike will be long and bitter. It may get as bad as the infamous 1985 strike, though I hope not.”
How The Current Strike Compares To 1988’s
At 22 weeks, the writers strike of 1988 remains the longest duration of a WGA strike action in history. Some of the areas in which the WGA and the AMPTP disagreed included residuals, writers’ creative rights over their TV and feature film scripts, and various cost-cutting measures that studios were pushing. Writers and studios were evidently far enough apart on these issues that it took more than five months for them to resolved.
Some of these issues mirror what writers are currently fighting for today. When it comes to residuals, the streaming boom has created a landscape in which many writers feel as if they are no longer being fairly compensated. Under the traditional model, for example, writers on successful shows were rewarded with more significant residuals payments based on how often their shows were rerun and how many people watched them.
Now, however, writers on shows for big streamers like Netflix, among others, don’t have a clear idea of how well their shows are performing, and their residual payments don’t accurately reflect when a show is an obvious success. Residual payment disputes is only one of a number of reasons why the WGA is on strike, though, with AI’s role in the script-writing process and writers rooms also being major sticking points. The Game of Thrones author’s latest prediction matches what other industry experts are predicting as well, meaning an end to the strike may not be coming anytime soon.
