Hollywood Studio Execs Say ‘Endgame’ Is To Drag WGA Strike Out Until Writers ‘Start Losing Their Apartments’ Before Restarting Talks

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Hollywood studios are playing serious hardball, and writers are furious. With a strike by the Screen Actors Guild looming, Deadline published an article on Tuesday giving insight into approach of the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, toward the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. READ MORE: Hollywood Actors Agree To Federal Mediation, But Refuse To Move Deadline As Strike Appears Unavoidable According to unnamed studio execs and insiders, the studios have been planning to drag out the strike for as long as possible in an effort to grind down guild members fighting for better residual payments, the end of mini writers rooms on TV shows, and protections against artificial intelligence tools. “It’s been agreed to for months, even before the WGA went out,” one executive told Deadline. “Nobody wanted a strike, but everybody knew this was make or break.” Another exec said that positive feedback from Wall Street to the AMPTP’s position during the strike have made the studios determined to “break the WGA.” Part of the approach, according to the article’s sources, is to push the strike until at least October, when it is believed that most writers will be running out of money due to no work after five months on the picket line. “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio exec said, while another insider called the tactic “a cruel but necessary evil.” The hope is reportedly that more financially insecure members of the WGA will demand that leadership restart talks and reach a deal before Christmas, putting studios and streaming services in a strong position to dictate terms.