Verticals

From the 1950s to the 1980s, we had essentially three networks dominating our television landscape: ABC, CBS, and NBC.  In 1986, Fox Broadcasting joined the Big 3, but we still had over-the-air broadcasters for our TV content providers. 

Then, in the early 1980s, cable TV broke into the market when CNN, MTV, ESPN, and some other specialized channels began providing service.  In the early 2000s, online streaming services branched out from traditional broadcast, giving audiences exponentially more platforms on which to find the latest television show.  By 2022, streaming viewership officially exceeded cable usage in the U.S.

Now, a new form of TV-viewing has arisen, and it’s not on a television at all, or even on a computer screen—but on our cell phones.

Verticals or vertical productions, also known as vertical shorts, micro-dramas, mini-dramas, verts, and more, are short, serialized stories filmed in a 9:16 portrait format specifically designed for mobile viewing on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and dedicated apps like ReelShort and DramaBox. 

For comparison, at this point in 2026, micro-drama viewers in the United States number 28 million; traditional streaming platforms attract a little over 200 million watchers; the cable/pay-TV viewers number 50-60 million households (not individual viewers); and the number of “non-pay TV” households (over-the-air viewers) is projected to reach 80.7 million by the end of 2026.

A vertical drama is defined as an online audiovisual program consisting of 60 to 100 episodes with each one running from several dozen seconds to about 15 minutes.  Each episode features a clear theme and the main storyline is continuous and forms a complete narrative arc.

The most successful verticals feature episodes from 1 to 2 minutes long.  A complete series typically runs between 90 and 180 minutes, compared to 120 to 150 minutes for a feature film or 60 minutes for a standard episode of a traditional U.S. television series.

Along with several other characteristics (which I’ll enumerate shortly), the format of verticals is distinguished by its structure as an episodic series and its narrative-driven dramatic form from other short-form videos online such as brief clips of people’s daily activities such as vlogs; how-to’s or tutorials like tips, recipes, or educational shortcuts; or videos based on popular music, “hashtags,” or specific physical challenges.

Furthermore, the narrative style is purposely dynamic and intense.  Unlike most content on platforms such as TikTok, micro-dramas are professionally produced with paid writers, actors, and crew (which accounts for the interest among unions like WGA and SAG-AFTRA).

Just as the episodes are fast-paced, so is production.  Joy Quinn, co-owner of 9:16 Productions of Kansas City, Missouri, where she’s also a producer, the artistic director, and the production designer, laid out the process:

Vertical productions are quite unique in structure and timeline.  Pre-production typically lasts 3-4 weeks, filming takes 6-9 days (rarely more than 12), and post-production wraps up within 1-2 months. . . .  Although the total runtime equals that of a typical feature film, verticals are broken into short episodes—each lasting just about 1 to 1.5 minutes.  Viewers scroll through the episodes rapidly, completing the series in one quick burst.

According to the conservative British daily newspaper The Telegraph, a Los Angeles talent agent declared: “They’re cheap and fast and nothing to be proud of—but they’re good work for young actors, despite the lousy pay.”  Critics and regulators have registered concerns over the micro-dramas’ content.

Criticisms include relying too heavily on sensationalism, exploiting viewer emotions, and potential manipulation of susceptible viewers, say, ones who don’t understand the way vertical producers let them buy “extras” without leaving the app (that is, “in-app purchases”).      

This entertainment sector is growing so fast that SAG-AFTRA, the U.S. labor union that represents media professionals (including actors, announcers, dancers, singers, stunt performers, voice-over artists, and others) worldwide, launched a “Verticals Agreement” in October 2025 to regulate the field.  (I won’t get into the specifics of the guild’s contract; aside from the webpage, there’s also a YouTube video featuring Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, and Sean Astin, President.)

(In September 2025, the Writers Guild of America, the two American labor unions—WGA East and WGA West—representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media, reminded its members that writing for verticals or micro-dramas is covered by existing agreements.)

This field of video art is new to me; I only first heard of it when I received an e-mail from SAG-AFTRA announcing the new agreement.  I had to look “verticals” up to see what they are, and I’m going to try to describe it for any ROTters who share my unfamiliarity.  If any or all of this is already within your knowledge and/or experience, just chalk it up to the ramblings of an old geezer who’s chronically out of touch.

Verticals are bite-sized episodes meant for mobile, vertical viewing, primarily on smartphones.  They got their start in China during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-23) but starting around 2023, have expanded to the U.S., where revenues reached $1.3 billion in 2025, and are projected to rise to $3.8 billion by 2030.

The rapid growth in the U.S. is one of the primary reasons major Hollywood entities like Fox Entertainment and Disney have begun investing in vertical platforms or launching their own vertical-content divisions. 

Other major players are entering the space as well, including former Miramax boss Bill Block with the platform GammaTime and the launch of the dedicated vertical studio Knockout Shorts.

The video’s portrait orientation originated in China and was designed to fill the whole screen of a smartphone held upright because producers found that audiences on platforms like ReelShort or TikTok don’t want to rotate their phones. 

While tablets, as well as wearables, like smartwatches, and handheld gaming consoles can connect to the internet and play videos, smartphones are the primary device for vertical content.  This is because micro-dramas are designed for people holding a device vertically with one hand, the way they already use their phones for texting or scrolling, and for which a phone is optimized, but which is awkward with a tablet. 

Even though a tablet is “mobile,” it has much more screen real estate.  If you watch a 9:16 vertical drama on a tablet held horizontally (that is, in landscape mode), you’ll see large black bars (or “mattes”) on each side of the video, defeating the “immersive” purpose of the format.

So, although in a general tech sense ‘mobile’ refers to any handheld, battery-powered computing device designed for portability, in the context of verticals, producers use ‘mobile’ as shorthand for “the vertical screen in your pocket.”

Producers use the vertical drama’s dimensions to ensure the content feels “native” and “immersive.”  These terms have to do with the way the story is built specifically for the phone, rather than just being “shrunk down” from a TV screen.

“Native,” which is about the technical fit (it feels right on the device), refers to content that feels like it belongs on a smartphone naturally.  It follows the “media language” of the device.  The producer ensures that the human eye is focused entirely on the content.

As I noted earlier, it’s designed to be watched while holding the phone vertically in one hand, matching how it’s already used.  Non-native content—like a horizontal movie clipped for TikTok—often has distracting mattes at the top and bottom.  It respects the user’s habit of scrolling because many micro-dramas include interactive elements or “next episode” buttons positioned exactly where your thumb naturally rests.

“Immersive,” which is about the emotional grip (it feels like you are right there with the character), describes the feeling of being pulled directly into the story’s world, often through techniques that make the screen feel like a window rather than a distant display. 

Because, for instance, the portrait frame is narrow, the camera stays very close to the actors’ faces.  This creates an intense, “moving portrait” effect that feels more personal and intimate than traditional wide-screen cinema.  Characters in vertical dramas often look directly into the lens, making it feel as if they are addressing the viewers directly or speaking to them privately. 

By filling the entire vertical screen—which viewers usually hold quite close to their faces—the production blocks out the surrounding physical world, heightening the emotional impact of the drama’s cliffhangers and twists.

The typical episode length of a micro-drama is 1 to 3 minutes, often featuring high-drama suspense to encourage binge-watching.  The series rely on melodramatic tropes—secret romances, revenge arcs, identity-reveal plots, supernatural and fantasy storylines, family drama, and high stakes ventures. 

The first few episodes are usually free, but if a viewer wants to see more, he or she’ll have to pay—buying digital “coins” or passes from the apps (the “in-app purchase”) to watch additional content.  That can cost viewers $10 to $20 a week or up to $80 a month.

Because viewers must pay or watch an ad (a trade of time for content where viewers can unlock the next hook without paying money by sitting through a 30-second video advertisement) to unlock the next 60 seconds, the vertical dramas rely on a narrative structure where every minute must end on a high-stakes emotional beat, a “vertical cliffhanger.” 

Without describing verticals as addictive, one viewer said the stories can suck you in.  After seeing TikTok ads for the ReelShort micro-drama series True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee, she watched it and then purchased a pass to finish the 85-part series.

“Despite the cheesy acting, the clip ended on a cliffhanger, and I desperately wanted to see what happened next,” said the viewer.  This viewer pronounced verticals “my generation’s soap opera.”

“The stories are outrageous, and the dialogue is very two-dimensional,” said Ryan Luevano, owner/talent manager of Skyfire Artists, a Los Angeles talent management company, of micro-dramas.  “This isn’t Shakespeare, but it’s also not what it’s about.  It’s the modern-day soap opera.  They’re written for Gen Z, and they’re consuming them on TikTok and Instagram and all these other platforms.”

Some observers, however, like Caiwei Chen, a tech reporter who covers China for MIT Technology Review, question whether micro-dramas are merely a viral curiosity.  “I do worry about how soon people will get tired of it,” she offered.  “It’s competing with TikTok . . . It’s competing with Instagram and a lot of other stuff.”

[In my reading on verticals and micro-dramas, I came across a post on the eponymous blog of Gary Mason, who describes himself as “a working actor and SAG-AFTRA member. I also help other actors . . . figure out this business without making all the mistakes I made.”  He lays out the newly union-sanctioned field of verticals for those in the biz who might be contemplating giving it a go.  I decided it’d made a good afterword for my post, so here’s what he has to say:

“VERTICAL MINI-DRAMAS:
FROM TIKTOK TREND TO SAG-COVERED WORK”
by Gary Mason
23 September 2025

Remember when vertical video was just for Instagram stories and shaky concert footage? Yeah, that changed.

Vertical mini-dramas . . . those addictive, phone-shot serialized shows you’ve probably seen your kids (or grandkids) binge-watching . . . have gone from viral curiosity to legitimate industry. And as of October 2025, SAG-AFTRA has a contract for them.

Which means union actors can now work these productions with full protections.

If you’ve been wondering whether this vertical thing is worth paying attention to . . . the answer just became “probably yes.”

Wait, What ARE Vertical Mini-Dramas?

If you haven’t stumbled across them yet, here’s the quick version.

Vertical mini-dramas (also called micro-dramas) are short, serialized shows shot in portrait mode . . . the way you hold your phone. Episodes run 1-3 minutes each, often with cliffhangers that keep you swiping to the next one. Think soap operas meets TikTok.

They started in China during the pandemic and EXPLODED. We’re talking $819 million in U.S. revenue in 2024. Projections say $3.8 billion by 2030. In China, micro-drama revenue is expected to surpass theatrical box office this year.

Platforms like ReelShort, DramaBox, and various TikTok-native productions are pumping these out constantly. And they need actors.

The SAG-AFTRA Verticals Agreement

In October 2025, SAG-AFTRA launched the Verticals Agreement . . . a new contract specifically designed for this format.

Here’s what you need to know:

What it covers: Serialized micro-dramas shot in vertical (9:16) format with budgets under $300,000.

Why it matters: Union actors can now work these productions with protections. Before this, it was a gray area . . . or you were working non-union.

Typical pay: Lead actors are averaging around $500/day, according to Backstage. Not life-changing money, but real work.

The bigger picture: SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin called this an “exciting new space” and said the union is “meeting the moment.” When the union creates a whole new contract category for something, that’s a signal.

This isn’t replacing traditional TV and film work. It’s adding a new lane. And for actors in regional markets like mine . . . where we’re not swimming in major productions . . . more lanes is good news.

Should YOU Care About This?

Honest answer: it depends on where you are. 

If you’re still figuring out whether acting is for you . . . don’t worry about this yet. Get your fundamentals in place first. Headshots. A basic reel. Profiles on the casting platforms. Learn how to self-tape. THEN start thinking about specialized formats.

If that’s you, my free guide “Start Where You Are” at gary-mason.com covers the mindset and first steps before you spend money on anything.

If you’re actively submitting and building your career . . . this is worth paying attention to. Not because you need to drop everything and chase micro-dramas, but because:

      1.      It’s real, paid, union-covered work
2.      Casting for these productions is happening NOW
3.      Having vertical content in your reel shows you’re current
4.      The market is growing fast . . . getting in early has advantages

If you’re a character actor or play “types” . . . micro-dramas LOVE distinct, memorable faces. The melodramatic style actually works well for bigger performances. This might be a better fit than you’d expect.

Adding Vertical Clips to Your Reel

Even if you’re not chasing micro-drama roles specifically, having a vertical clip or two in your materials signals something to casting: this person understands where the industry is going. 

You don’t need fancy equipment. You need:

• Your phone (shoot in 4K if it supports it)
• A way to mount it vertically (cheap tripod adapters work fine)
• Decent lighting (window light or a simple LED panel . . . no ring lights)
• Clean audio (a $20 lav mic makes a huge difference)

Keep it simple. A 60-90 second scene that shows you can perform in this format. Tight framing . . . your face should dominate the frame. That’s the whole point of vertical.

I cover reel building, self-tape setup, and how to present yourself to casting in “Beyond the Basics” at gary-mason.com. If you’re at the stage where you’re actively submitting and want to make sure your materials are working for you, that’s where to look.

What to Actually Shoot

If you’re creating a vertical clip for your reel, think about what shows you off:

For drama: A confrontation scene. Tight on your face. Emotion building. These formats reward intensity . . . don’t be subtle.

For comedy: Setup, complication, punchline. Reaction shots work great in vertical because you’re RIGHT THERE in the viewer’s face.

For either: Keep it under 90 seconds. Front-load the good stuff. If casting is scrolling through reels, they’re deciding in the first few seconds whether to keep watching.

One or two solid vertical clips is plenty. You’re not replacing your horizontal reel . . . you’re supplementing it.

The Bottom Line

A year ago, I would have told you vertical mini-dramas were an interesting trend but not something to prioritize. Now? SAG-AFTRA built a contract for them. The money is real. The productions are hiring. 

Does that mean you should drop everything and pivot to micro-dramas? No. Get your fundamentals right first. But if you’re already in the game and looking for more opportunities . . . this is a door that just opened.

And doors that just opened tend to have less competition on the other side.

[Mason has more advice on other matters of interest to actors—not just verticals—so interested actors should log onto his blog and have a look.]

"AI in the Arts Is the Destruction of the Film Industry. We Can't Go Quietly"

by Justine Bateman 

[Justine Bateman’s op-ed appeared on the Newsweek website on 17 May 2023 (AI in the Arts Is the Destruction of the Film Industry. We Can’t Go Quietly | Opinion (newsweek.com)).  As a working member of the entertainment industry and someone with both academic and practical knowledge of artificial intelligence and computer-created output, she clearly has strong feelings about the practice and takes a stand.]

What does it mean to be human?

You look human, you act human, you learn lessons, you have challenges, you feel emotions.

And yet, in 2023, we’ve shrunk decidedly away from being human.

The Writer’s [sic] Guild of America (WGA) is currently on strike against the AMPTP, the representation of the Hollywood studios and streamers. A number of demands were made and were met with the expected pushback, but one pushback was alarming: the refusal to even have a conversation about the potential for AI to displace screenwriters in films and series.

As a WGA writer, a Directors Guild of America (DGA) director, a former Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) board member, former SAG negotiating committee member, and coder who holds a UCLA degree in computer science and digital media management, I knew this signaled that they were not only thinking about using AI to displace us, but that they had already begun.

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, but I refer to it as “Automatic Imitation.” In short, AI is an algorithm that is fed a wealth of information and given a task, and it then delivers the result based on the information it’s been fed. There are more complexities, but that is the basic design and function of AI. And it is being used in the Arts for greed, trained on all our past work.

This is how I believe it’s going to play out:

It starts with AI-written scrips and digitally-scanned actors, either image or voice actors. This scanning is already in practice; in fact, some talent agencies are actively recruiting their clients to be scanned. What this would mean for the actor is that they would get 75 cents on the dollar, and their digital image can be triple and quadruple booked. Of course, you’re not getting the actor; you’re getting a copy of them.

The next step will be films customized for a viewer based on their viewing history, which has been collected for many years. Actors will have the option to have their image “bought out” to be used in anything at all. Viewers will be able to “order up” films—for example, “I want a film about a panda and a unicorn who save the world in a rocket ship. And put Bill Murray in it.”

From there I believe viewers will be given the ability to be digitally scanned themselves, and pay extra to have themselves inserted in these custom films. You’ll also start to see licensing deals made with studios, so that viewers can order up older films like “Star Wars” and put their face on Luke Skywalker’s body, and their ex-wife’s face on Darth Vader’s body, and so on.

You can also expect to see the training of AI programs on older, hit TV series in order to create new seasons. “Family Ties,” for example, has 167 episodes, comprising seven seasons. An AI program could easily be trained on this to create an eighth season.

All to say, AI has to be addressed now or never.

I believe this is the last time any labor action will be effective in our business. If we don’t make strong rules now, they simply won’t notice if we strike in three years, because at that point, they won’t need us.

The future I’m describing rings true for many, though some have told me that they don’t believe that viewers want to see AI-generated images, or see themselves in AI films, or watch regurgitations of past films.

I believe they are wrong: Viewers have already been conditioned for AI film, because we have gotten away from being fully human.

If we were in 1975 and we asked people what they thought of these AI images, they’d most likely furrow their brow and remark on its artificial nature. But in 2023, our eyes have been trained on faces that have been amended by plastic surgery, by Instagram and TikTok filters. People are now more accustomed to seeing artificial faces than they are fully natural human faces.

Manufactured AI images are just one click away on the false imagery dial.

As far as “seeing themselves in AI films,” I believe society is well-conditioned for that as well. For the past 10 years, social media apps like Instagram and TikTok have opened wide the narcissism and self-obsession usually dormant in humans. The vast majority of what’s posted on social media is an almost frantic stream of selfies and vlogs, all posted in the name of “building your brand.” Seeing yourself in custom made films would easily fit into this model.

But we’ve also been primed in another way for the AI takeover of art: Endless reboots, remakes, sequels, next chapters, and prequels have replaced new stories. We’ve basically be doing AI by hand, pulling in all the old stuff and spitting out an amalgamation of that past work.

The creation of new paths and genres, so important to being a modern human, have not really occurred in the Arts for the past 20 years. What do you think of when you think of 21st century art? Most of it is just a rehashing of the 20th century. And this makes people open to the rehashing of the past that AI is designed to do.

As much as I dislike it, I believe society in 2023 (and 2024 and 2025) will be receptive to AI films and will embrace their arrival. And I believe the studios and the streamers know this. I hope I am wrong about this, but I don’t think I am. And it’s unfortunate. AI in the Arts is nothing less than a destruction of the 100-year[-]old film industry.

We must fight, we must strike as WGA members, we must warn other artists—actors, crew members, and directors—about what is coming. Because this is our watch.

All of the film industry that has come before us handed us this business, and it was ours to care for. If the studios and streamers that hold the purse strings that enable our work are set on destroying this incredible business that brings so much to society, I want it known that on our watch, we opposed it. We defended human-made films and series.

On our watch, we fought being replaced with computer programs.

We must fight, we must strike as WGA members, we must warn other artists—actors, crew members, and directors—about what is coming. Because this is our watch.

[Justine Bateman is a filmmaker, author, and coder with a degree from UCLA in computer science and digital media management.  In addition, she’s a film actress, writer, director, and producer.  (She’s also the older sister of actor, director, and producer Jason Bateman.)

[The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.]

*  *  *  *

[Bateman, as an artist as well as someone knowledgeable about computers and AI, is writing from her individual perspective.  She also focuses on the consequences, as she sees them, of the misuse and abuse of AI technology in film and television production. 

[In the Spring 2023 issue of SAG-AFTRA magazine (vol 12, no. 2), the film-and-TV actors’ union lays out the issues facing performers in the coming technological world of AI in an article entitled “Artificial Intelligence, Real Consequences.” 

[“Of all the tasks that could be automated,” admonishes the article, “generating art was perhaps the one that was least in need of being done by a machine, but now that the technology has emerged, it’s going to be part of the new reality for all creators.”  Asserts one union official: “Creative storytelling is fundamentally human, and humans should remain at the center of the story.”

[SAG-AFTRA is aimed at an audience of union members, so I thought that I’d present portions of it that are of more interest to a general readership on this blog (leaving out some of the more inside-baseball reportage—with apologies to the SAG-AFTRA leadership):

It’s a concerning time for creatives. Generative artificial intelligence has burst onto the scene, allowing anyone to create essays, screenplays, pictures, music and more in mere seconds, with minimal effort — even if they consider themselves devoid of creativity.

The most popular of these tools parse a user’s input and, using an enormous set of data, create an output that fulfills that request. So, for instance, ChatGPT can respond to a user’s request to “Write an essay about snails” by pulling everything it knows about the invertebrates to create a passable article on the topic. On the visual arts side, one might ask Midjourney or DALL-E for a picture of a snail in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, and the AI will dutifully spit one out.

Machine learning, which powers these tools, is being used onscreen to de-age actors, lip-synch dubbed programs, replicate an actor’s voice and even generate entire performances. It’s not hard to see how all this power can be misused.

That’s why SAG-AFTRA and other industry unions are working hard to ensure that AI is available as a tool to help creators, not a way to put them out of work.

“These tools can help America’s entertainers ideate and work more efficiently. They can be a welcome tool to assist in the creative process, or they can take a darker turn, threatening to replace the tens of thousands of hardworking creative minds that have dedicated their lives, and their careers, to their crafts,” said SAG-AFTRA NED Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “In my time as SAG-AFTRA national executive director, I’ve seen new technologies contribute to, rather than disrupt, the work that our members do for the public. With the right approach to regulation, we can ensure that new advancements in generative AI do the same.”

To that end, the union has staked out a firm position on the use of AI and is taking concrete steps to ensure the technology is used for good. Without the power of collective action, performers would be on their own in navigating this new threat, and would have to rely solely on the benevolence of those who hire them.

. . . .

“Creative storytelling is fundamentally human, and humans should remain at the center of the story. SAG-AFTRA has always embraced technological change, but we have done so with our longstanding mandate to protect actors, recording artists and broadcasters foremost in mind. We will work with our industry partners to negotiate fair terms and conditions for AI uses, and we will partner with them to advocate for smart AI policies. Most importantly, we will never stand idly by if the professional voices, likenesses and performances of our members are misappropriated,” said SAG-AFTRA General Counsel Jeffrey Bennett.

In March, the union announced that it joined with major industry players to support the Human Artistry Campaign [see below] and that the rights to digitally simulate a performer to create new performances must be bargained with the union. SAG-AFTRA warned that any attempt by employers to circumvent the union and deal directly with the performers on these issues is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. SAG-AFTRA further clarified that Global Rule One, which requires that SAG-AFTRA members must always work under a union contract wherever they work, covers any agreement with an employer to digitally simulate a member’s voice or likeness to create a new performance.

As the technology improves at a dizzying speed, the laws protecting copyright and other intellectual rights will be tested. SAG-AFTRA emphasizes that governments should not create new copyright or other IP exemptions that allow AI developers to exploit creative works, or professional voices and likenesses, without permission or compensation. AI that generates text and art doesn’t create it from nothing; it is trained on the hard work, brilliance, inspiration, sweat and creativity of countless artists — artists who have financial obligations and families, and who deserve to be compensated for their efforts.

[“The act of creating is one of the most fulfilling and satisfying aspects of human existence,” declares the article, “and SAG-AFTRA is doing everything it can to keep it that way.”  Toward that end, as the excerpt posted above reports, the union has joined with other performing-arts organizations “to ensure AI is used responsibly.”  The Human Artistry Campaign’s fundamental principles are:

1. Technology has long empowered human expression, and AI will be no different.

2. Human-created works will continue to play an essential role in our lives.

3. Use of copyrighted works, and the use of voices and likenesses of professional performers, requires authorization, licensing and compliance with all relevant laws.

4. Governments should not create new copyright or other IP exemptions that allow AI developers to exploit creators without permission or compensation.

5. Copyright should only protect the unique value of human intellectual creativity.

6. Trustworthiness and transparency are essential to the success of AI and protection of creators.

7. Creators’ interests must be represented in policymaking.

[To take action, visit https://www.humanartistrycampaign.com/.]

2023 Writers Guild Strike

 

[The Writers Guild of America (WGA), the union that represents film and television script writers, went on strike on Tuesday, 2 May, resulting in the largest work stoppage for the WGA since the 2007-08 strike (5 November 2007-12 February 2008) and the largest interruption to television and film production in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.  

[Though Rick On Theater isn’t a newspaper and covering current events in the entertainment business isn’t its mission, I felt that because the strike has already closed TV production down for over four weeks, some explanation of the causes and issues would be informative for ROT’s readers.

[I’ve combined a segment from the PBS NewsHour that featured an interview with two members of the union with a news report on the strike and its effects.  My intention is to look at the practical repercussions of the labor action and the rationales behind them.] 

“HOLLYWOOD FACES LARGER WORK STOPPAGE
AS ACTORS THREATEN TO STRIKE ALONGSIDE WRITERS”
by Geoff Bennett and Dorothy Hastings

[The PBS NewsHour interview with WGA members Jeane Phan Wong (Walt Disney Pictures’ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, 2006; CW Network’s Arrow, 2012-20) and Sal Gentile (NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, 2015-19) was aired on 18 May 2023, about 2½ weeks into the strike.]

Geoff Bennett, “PBS NewsHour” Anchor: The [film and television] actors union SAG-AFTRA has called for a strike authorization vote. If the strike is approved, actors could join the more than 11,000 Writers Guild members already on the picket line, putting even more pressure on studios and networks.

[The deadline to vote on the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization is Monday, June 5. 

[The Directors Guild of America (DGA), the labor union representing the directors and directorial staff of film and TV productions, is currently negotiating a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade association that represents film studios, broadcast television networks, and streaming services.

[The DGA hasn’t yet called for a vote to authorize a strike. Such a vote would empower DGA leadership to call a work stoppage should contract negotiations necessitate it.  A DGA strike would likely result in a complete shutdown of TV and film production, especially if it’s in conjunction with a WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike.  After all, few shows—and almost no movies—are made without actors and none without directors.

[In the past week, many showrunners, the overall executive producer of a television series and often DGA members, have been finding it difficult to separate their daily functions from writing work.  (Many showrunners are also WGA members.)  AMPTP executives and DGA leaders are reminding showrunners that their primary duties must be performed as long as they don’t encroach on WGA services, but many occupants of those positions are feeling that those duties are essentially writing.]

The ongoing writers strike has halted production movies and scripted series like “Stranger Things” on Netflix, Apple TV’s “Severance” and Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” Late-night TV shows have already gone dark.

For more on the strike and what’s at stake, I’m joined by two television writers and Writers Guild members, Sal Gentile and Jeane Phan Wong.

Thank you both for being with us.

And, Jeane, we will start with you.

This is day 17 of the strike. How are you and other writers faring? And remind us of what it is that you’re demanding.

Jeane Phan Wong, Member, Writers Guild of America: We’re basically asking for less than 2 percent of profits that they make from writer content, when it comes down to it.

And sustainable wages to be able to have a career in entertainment is what we’re asking for. And I was just out on the picket line this morning and felt really good with morale and all of us are — I drove in. I had a two-hour commute because I’m house-sitting out of town. It just felt really good morale just to see everyone, and especially when people drop off food.

It’s always nice when people feed the writers.

(LAUGHTER)

Geoff Bennett: So, Jeane, streaming has dramatically transformed the industry. This is a prolific era in American entertainment.

One would think that compensation would reflect that. Why hasn’t it?

Jeane Phan Wong: There’s a huge influence of the tech industry on streaming and the way that writers are being compensated.

So, I’m both a television and a new-feature writer. And, in television, our employment, we’re paid weekly, and the average number of weeks that a writer is working in a room has gone down a lot. And, oftentimes, writers are forced to stretch the money that they make in such a short amount of time over a longer time, and even, in some writers, some contracts with options and exclusivity.

Sometimes, writers are held and they can’t even find other work. And in feature writing, there’s just a lot that we’re asking for, more than a one-step deal, because there’s a lot of free work. And I know that sounds insane, but there’s a lot of just free labor that’s being asked as sort of like a courtesy and whatnot.

And so, basically, a lot of the tech industry has this — like, devalued ask for more work, sometimes free work, for less money, and asking writers to stretch our salaries over a long time.

Geoff Bennett: And, Sal, you work in late-night. That’s a high-pressure job, long hours. You have to be funny every day. You can’t necessarily wait for the muse to strike.

How have the changes in the industry that Jeane is talking about, how has that affected the work that you and your colleagues do?

Sal Gentile, Member, Writers Guild of America: Well, so I’m incredibly lucky because my show is on a broadcast network. And so we benefit from protections that the Guild has fought for and collectively bargained for over many years.

We benefit from protections such as minimum pay and residuals for the reuse of our material. And that makes it possible for writers to have a livable career and to go from project to project.

And the fear is that, because we all know streaming is here, and not only is it here, but it will continue to be the future, that will go away for all writers across the Guild, but especially in particularly for late-night and comedy variety writers, because the studios have essentially proposed taking all of those protections for late-night writers and comedy variety writers away.

And, as you mentioned, it’s a high-pressure job. You have to respond to the news every single day and write jokes about the news every single day. And it’s really hard to do that without the security, at least some minimum level of guarantee about what your contract is going to say. And the studios would like, in the future, if these shows are exclusively on streaming, to pay writers, not a minimum, not the residuals, but to pay a day rate, which would not make it a sustainable career for anybody.

And so, because I love the type of writing I do, I love late-night writing, I love writing jokes about the news, I want to — I want to make sure it remains a sustainable career, both for myself and my colleagues and for people who come after us, because there’s going to be plenty more insane news for the shows to make fun of.

Geoff Bennett: Sal, a sticking point in the writer strike has to do with artificial intelligence.

A.I. is already being used in entertainment writing. What are some of the concerns that you and your colleagues have?

Sal Gentile: Yes, so I want to establish one thing, which is that writers are not naive about technology. We know that A.I. is here. And we know that it’s the future.

And we want to make sure that we can use it as a tool creatively, in the creative process, rather than being replaced by it. And so I think, for example, the nightmare scenario, the fear is that studios will use A.I. to generate really bad scripts, or, let’s say, in my case, really bad jokes about the news. And then they will bring in a writer at a much lower rate with many fewer writers in a room to improve a bad script generated by A.I. and make it good enough to use on television or in film.

And so we want to just . . . we just want basic protections in place to make sure that they can’t do that. We’re not saying A.I. is going to go away. We’re simply saying, let’s put basic protections in place that will make sure it doesn’t replace us, but that we can use the technology as part of the creative process.

Geoff Bennett: And we should say we reached out to the group that’s representing the studios [i.e., AMPTP] to participate in this discussion, and they said they don’t speak on the record about ongoing negotiations.

But, Jeane, I will tell you, I spoke with a studio executive who made the point that the studios right now can literally afford to wait out the strike because they are in a cost-cutting mode right now. And this work stoppage for them is a savings. These are temporary savings.

How long are you prepared to stay out in the picket line?

Jeane Phan Wong: I[‘m] prepare[d] to stay out as long as it takes, because the fight for — to have a sustainable career, it’s an existential fight, for writers to be able to make a living, and it’s also a fight for a lot of working-class and middle-class writers.

We have a robust strike fund. I have applied to it just in case. And I will stay out here as long as I need to, and as people are sending food, and it’s been great to march and picket with other unions.

Geoff Bennett: Sal, how do you see it? And what would it mean if SAG-AFTRA, if the performers union, if the directors union [i.e., DGA] joined this effort?

Sal Gentile: The cross-union solidarity has been incredible on the picket lines. We have been joined by our friends and colleagues from unions across the industry.

And, as you noted, SAG[-AFTRA] has already called for a strike authorization vote, because everybody recognizes that this is an existential moment for the industry at large. The streaming era has broken the profit-sharing model that already existed that was in place. It was imperfect, but it was there.

[The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) were separate unions until they merged in 2012.  Actors’ Equity Association (AEA, or Equity), the union for theatrical actors and stage managers founded in 1913, remains independent.  (See “Actors’ Equity at 100,” 19 and 22 June 2013.)]

Make sure that the people who work in this industry can sustain a livable career, and it’s not an industry just for the lucky few, . . . but for everybody across all of these unions and guilds. And so everybody recognizes that. And I have felt the same incredible energy on the picket lines.

I know everybody, as much as we love writing and as much as we want to get back to our jobs as writers, everybody is committed to this cause and seeing it through across all of the sister unions that have joined us on the picket line.

Geoff Bennett: Sal Gentile and Jeane Phan Wong, thank you both for sharing your perspectives with us. I appreciate it.

Jeane Phan Wong: Thank you.

Sal Gentile: Thank you.

[Geoff Bennett serves as co-anchor of PBS NewsHour.  He also serves as an NBC News and MSNBC political contributor.

[Dorothy Hastings is a producer for national affairs at PBS NewsHour.] 

*  *  *  *
“THE 2023 WRITERS’ STRIKE, EXPLAINED 
— AND HOW IT WILL AFFECT YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOWS”
by Lindsay Lowe

[The following report was posted on TODAY.com, the website for NBC’s daily morning television show, on Wednesday, 10 May—eight days after the WGA strike started.  It’s the best coverage of the background of the strike and the demands of the writers that I have found. 

[Any changes in the facts of the strike that have occurred in the ensuing three weeks will have been in the productions that have joined the list of those shut down or delayed or in WGA’s sister unions that have joined the walk-out in support of the writers, both of which are ongoing occurrences.]

Production has stalled on several major TV shows as writers face an “existential crisis,” the Writer’s Guild of America says.

It’s been a dramatic week in Hollywood, to say the least.

On May 2, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) — an alliance of two labor unions representing over 11,000 film, television, news, radio and online writers — went on strike, demanding higher pay and a stable pay structure, as well as fairer deals and contracts and provisions about artificial intelligence, per a list of WGA proposals.

The guild, when announcing the strike, called this moment an “existential crisis” for writers.

“We have reached this moment today not of our own choosing but because the companies’ assault on writer income and working conditions have pushed us to an existential brink,” WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser said on the organization’s website. 

For the past week, writers have been picketing the headquarters of major studios including Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, and others.

Protestors have been brandishing signs demanding higher wages and targeting studio executives with tongue-in-cheek messages like, “Give up just ONE yacht” and “Pay your writers or we’ll spoil ‘Succession.’”

With the strike entering its second week, production has halted on several major TV shows.

“Saturday Night Live” went dark on May 6, and late night shows including “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” also stopped taping live episodes, airing reruns instead.

[Late-night talk show hosts like Fallon and Colbert (and their fellows) consider themselves writers and are, themselves, members of the WGA.]

Why are writers walking off the job? Here’s what to know about why writers are striking, and what the strike means for upcoming TV show and movie releases.

Why are Hollywood writers striking?

Writers went on strike after six weeks of negotiations failed with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a body that represents major Hollywood studios and production companies like Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount, Sony, Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney.

One of the strike’s key demands is higher compensation.

Median weekly writer-producer pay has declined 23 percent over the last decade when adjusting for inflation, according to a recent WGA report.

“Our wages have been falling in the last few years as the streamers’ profits have been skyrocketing,” writer Amanda Mercedes tells TODAY.com.

Mercedes, 36, who lives in Burbank, California, is a staff writer for the ABC crime procedural “The Rookie: Feds.” She says the rise of streaming services like Netflix have “changed the business model completely,” making it harder for writers to find consistent, well-paying work.

Whereas a successful show could have run for seasons during the cable era, giving writers steady job and learning for years, the binge-able, big-budget shows made for streamers are typically shorter and renewed with less consistency. Writers have to scramble from job to job.

“With traditional TV models, jobs were lasting six months, nine months, a year. I saw a writer the other day that said that her last job was four weeks, and that’s just not sustainable to be able to string together gigs in that way to make a living,” Mercedes says.

Streaming also lead to different format of writers’ rooms. Mercedes pointed to the rising use of “mini rooms” — scaled-down writers’ rooms that hire fewer writers for shorter periods of time, and often pay less, according to the WGA. In a mini room, a small group of writers typically work with the showrunner to break down the season’s plot points and work on scripts, which are finished without them.

“Mini rooms are crushing the ability for writers to string together jobs the way that we used to,” Mercedes says.

There’s a lot at stake for Mercedes, who spoke with TODAY.com just before heading out to join the picket line at the headquarters of Paramount.

Mercedes started her staff writing job last May and joined the WGA in September, just in time to be eligible for health insurance before welcoming a baby this February.

“It’s objectively a terrible time to have just broken in and started a family,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post. “But I will be wearing that baby on the picket line so that I have a shred of hope to stay in this business while raising him.”

Writers are also fighting for higher residual payments, or the payments writers receive when shows they have worked on are re-released, whether as reruns or in syndication.

According to the WGA, half of all writers now work in streaming, which pays fewer residuals for new and pre-existing shows.

Valentina Garza, a producer and writer who has worked on shows including “Wednesday,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Jane the Virgin,” shared one stark example on Twitter of how low residual payments can be on streaming services.

“In case anyone’s wondering why the WGA is on strike, this is my streaming residual check for two episodes of ‘Jane the Virgin,’” she tweeted, sharing a photo of a check made out for three cents. “One for .01 another for .02. I think the streamers can do better.”

In the face of these industry shifts, the union is proposing regulations regarding artificial intelligence, pay structures to make up for the elimination of residuals, preservation of the writers’ room, minimum pay for streaming, and guaranteed number of on-the-week jobs for writers, per a WGA document.

The Guild’s proposals, according to the WGA, would cost studios $429 million per year. Studios’ counterproposals were $86 million.

How is the writers’ strike affecting TV shows and movies?

As the WGA strike enters its second week, some major shows and films have delayed production.

Some shows, including the CBS drama “Evil” and the Apple TV+ comedy “Loot,” stopped production after writers formed picket lines at filming locations. In solidarity with the writers, many non-writer crew members reportedly joined the strike, stalling filming.

Other shows are delayed because there are no writers to staff their writers’ rooms.

Writers for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” were “supposed to be going back into the writers room (on May 3) to start on the third season,” series star Sheryl Lee Ralph told TODAY.com on Friday. “They won’t be.”

Similarly, the creators of “Stranger Things” announced on Twitter that filming for the supernatural Netflix series would be postponed.

“Writing does not stop when filming begins,” read a tweet from the show’s producers, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer. “While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out.

Several other shows have also paused production, including HBO’s “Hacks,” Apple TV+’s “Severance” and a planned “Game of Thrones” prequel, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.”

On the movie side, pre-production was also paused on Marvel Studios’ vampire thriller, “Blade”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Late-night talk shows, which rely on teams of writers, have also gone dark.

Seth Meyers, himself a member of the WGA, spoke in support of the strike a few days before NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers” went off the air.

“I . . . feel very strongly that what the writers are asking for is not unreasonable,” he said on his show on April 24. “And, as a proud member of the guild, I’m very grateful that there is an organization that looks out for the best interests of writers.”

Soap operas, meanwhile, may continue airing fresh content for at least a little while longer. As Vulture reports, “Days of Our Lives” has a backlog of new episodes that will stretch into the fall, while “General Hospital” has “about a month left” of new content.

Note that reality shows, sports, daytime talk shows and news shows are not affected by the strike.

When will the writers’ strike end?

It’s difficult to say when the writers’ strike will end.

The last time the WGA went on strike in November 2007, the strike lasted until February 2008, when the union reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The WGA also launched a strike in 1988 over residuals, spanning 153 days.

The more recent three-month strike disrupted the seasons of many hit shows at the time, including “The Office,” “Friday Night Lights” and “Breaking Bad.” The entertainment landscape shifted during those 100 days as a result, leading to a reality TV boom (for example, NBC launched the “The Celebrity Apprentice” during this time; “Cops” was developed during the writers’ strike of 1988).

In the meantime, several Hollywood stars have spoken out in support of the current strike.

“This is what I would be doing on TV without writers,” Mandy Patinkin wrote in a viral tweet, sharing a video of himself standing in silence.

Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Fran Drescher, Seth Meyers, Mindy Kaling and other celebrities have also been spotted on picket lines over the past week. Pete Davidson delivered pizza to a strike in Brooklyn.

Mercedes says that while she has no idea whether the current strike will last as long as the previous one, she is confident that she and her colleagues will strike “as long as it takes for us to get the contract that we need.”

“The creativity starts with us,” she added, “and the rest of the industry can’t move forward without the words on the page.”

[Lindsay Lowe has been a regular contributor to TODAY.com since 2016, covering pop culture, style, home and other lifestyle topics. She is also working on her first novel, a domestic drama set in rural Regency England.

[Justine Bateman, who’s a filmmaker, author, and coder with a degree from UCLA in computer science and digital media management, wrote an op-ed column in Newsweek on 17 May that breaks down the issue of artificial intelligence in the film and TV industries.  I plan to republish Batelman’s exposition as a companion to this post on Sunday, 4 June,]