Are Streaming Residuals Being Slashed? As WGA’s Own Data Shows, It’s Complicated

deadline.com:

The issue of residuals is a major focal point for the Writers Guild of America’s negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as the two sides held their latest round of talks on a new contract Friday.

However, it’s clearly a complicated topic — made even more complex when one looks under the hood of the WGA’s own financials.

Last week, the WGA’s Negotiating Committee, in its latest appeal to members to approve a strike authorization, said, “Over the past decade, while our employers have increased their profits by tens of billions, they have embraced business practices that have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions.” But the WGA West’s latest annual report, released in June, notes that for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, total residuals collected by the guild in 2021 hit an “all-time high.” The guild’s annual reports also show that total residuals increased by 48.2% from 2011 to 2021 – from $333 million to $493.6 million.

Charles Slocum, assistant executive director at the WGA West, told Deadline this week that “total residuals are higher because many more projects are being made, and a lot more are in reuse.” The “slashing” of residuals, he said, “is on a per-program basis.” And the culprit is streaming, where half of all series writers now work. RELATED: WGA Strike Authorization Meeting: Sides Remain “Far Away” From A Deal Despite “A Little Bit Of Progress” At Bargaining Table “In streaming, the companies have not agreed to pay residuals at the same level as broadcast, or the same reward-for-success as they have traditionally paid in broadcast,” he said. “If you write for a streamer, you get two residuals payments – one for domestic streaming