The proliferation of so-called “mini-rooms”-where small writing staffs often work on a show before it is green-lighted-has many writers taking short-term jobs for less than their established rate. The shift of film and television to streaming has meant lower residuals (the money writers get paid when their shows are re-aired) and shorter seasons. While overall production budgets have risen sharply, writer pay has declined by 4 percent over the past decade-23 percent when adjusted for inflation. The conditions that caused this strike (the first by the WGA since the 2007–08 walkout) have been percolating for years.

So, with an overwhelming 97.85 percent approval by voting members, we decided to strike. But the AMPTP never got close to offering that kind of an agreement, offering only about 20 percent of what we asked, and refusing to engage with several of our core proposals. Given the fact that those profits would literally not be possible without our writing, this didn’t seem like a lot to ask for. Taken together, the measures we asked for amounted to roughly 2 percent of the profits made by the studios-and the increasingly consolidated corporations behind them-from the work we do. When the WGA began its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group representing Hollywood studios, the goal was a fair contract that would help writers maintain sustainable careers. In fact, if it were up to the writers, we wouldn’t have had to strike at all. Clarke Award, the Toronto Book Award, and the Morning News Tournament of Books, and was adapted into a limited series for HBO.Ĭopies of Sea of Tranquility are available at every public library branch in Arkansas as well as in Libby.As someone who hates conflict but loves fairness, I felt a twinge of anxiety in joining the picket line. Her novel Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the 2015 Arthur C. John Mandel is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel. The program will also be livestreamed on ASL’s YouTube page.Įmily St.

Registered participants will be sent a Zoom link upon registration. John Mandel about her 2022 novel, Sea of Tranquility. The Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library presents a conversation with Emily St.

Emily st john mandel 2022