Amid a tense labor atmosphere in Hollywood, the Writers Guild of America began contract negotiations Monday in what is expected to be a tough round of talks as the industry continues to grapple with digital upheaval.
The WGA, which counts about 13,000 members between its East and West Coast guilds, is sitting down at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major studios, TV networks and independent producers.
The closed-door talks will focus on a new contract to replace the current three-year agreement that was reached in 2014 and expires May 1.
Experts say that residual payments related to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are likely to be among the biggest points of discussion in the days ahead.
Guilds like the WGA want to make sure their members are being paid in a way that's commensurate with the money studios are making off of streaming video, said Dan Stone, an attorney at Greenberg Glusker who specializes in entertainment and media.
With traditional movie and TV distribution, there was a certain level of financial transparency that enabled unions to work out residual payments with the studios, said Stone, who previously served as assistant general counsel at the Directors Guild of America.
But that transparency hasn't been there for the streaming services, he said. It's mostly subscription-driven so it's been difficult for the guilds to come up with a residuals formula.
You never know what's going on inside the room
but the WGA seems to have been signaling to its membership that it's willing to go to the mat on this issue.
