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Updated with a quote from the studio exec, 1:28 PM: As the Writers Guild strike begins its third week, the union’s negotiating committee today sent a letter to WGA members dubbed “The Cost of Settlement” (read it below). They argue that “the studios risk significant and sustained disruption in the coming weeks and months that will far outweigh the costs of stability.”
The union estimates that “its proposals on the table when the contract expires on May 1 will cost the industry a combined $429 million annually, about $343 million of which is attributable to eight of our largest employers.”
Related: WGA Strike Pictures: Stars, writers, dissidents, and their supporters on the picket line
The letter, signed by David A.
The letter comes a day after WGA East Vice President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen sent a letter to members in which she incorrectly said: “Based on previous estimates, the strike could cost approximately $30 million per day if studio production is lost. Per day.” The strike is costing the California economy $30 million a day, not the studios.
In response to the recently announced WGA numbers, one studio executive told Deadline today, “They’re baseless and just made out to get their membership and make provocative titles.”
Related: Full hit coverage of deadline
This is the negotiating committee’s full message to members:
Dear members:
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike for two weeks because AMPTP refuses to negotiate a fair deal to address the existential crisis writers are facing.
The WGA estimates that the proposals on the table when the contract expires on May 1 will cost the industry a combined $429 million annually, about $343 million of which is attributable to eight of our largest employers.
For perspective, tens of billions are being spent on creating programming writers, $19 billion just on original content for streaming services this year. The cost of these proposed improvements is modest compared to industry revenues and profits, but they are essential for writers whose wages and working conditions have eroded over the past decade.
What would the cost of contract offers currently on the table look like on a company-by-company basis? take a look:
WGA
These companies have made billions in the book business and they tell their investors every quarter about the importance of written content. However, they risk a major and sustained disruption in the coming weeks and months that will far outweigh the stability costs.
In solidarity with,
WGA Negotiating Committee
Here are all the signatories to today’s letter:
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