The Writers Guild writers strike has plagued entertainment since the union went on strike on May 2. It has gone on for just over 70 days now, and the Screen Actors Guild is poised to take their own halting labor action any minute in solidarity with the Writers Guild. But it seems major studios are not terribly worried about it. Here’s the cynical update on Disney and the writers strike.
In a new report from Deadline, Disney is among the major studios that are happy to watch the creators of their content suffer before even thinking of starting negotiations – which they aren’t even considering until late fall!
It’s going to be several months before Disney and other studios like Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount sit down with the WGA and potentially SAG. This is a specific and unified tactic meant to “bleed out” the striking writers themselves as well as their cause. The goal is to leave the out-of-work writers “financially strapped” and depleted by the time the studios are ready to negotiate.
A studio executive literally admitted to Deadline that “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” another insider calling it “a cruel but necessary evil.”
This sentiment is just shocking, especially for the Walt Disney Company, which blatantly goes against its curated, wholesome and caring brand image. If this were a Disney movie, Disney would be the villain. It really does just come down to money.
Deadline reports that the studios planned, even before the strike was official, to hold out until just before the holiday season when striking writers will be most vulnerable – therefore allowing the studios to have the upper hand in negotiations.
Whether striking writers have planned for this possibility is still unclear. However, spectators guess that Disney and its peers will be strapped for content by the holiday season, which may lead to even more difficult negotiations.
Disney Dining will present more information on Disney and the writers strike as it unfold.