WGA Strike Is A “Growth Opportunity” For WME, Endeavor President Mark Shapiro Says; “Writers Are Going To Do Better Economically,” Which Will Boost Representation Business
deadline.comEndeavor President and COO Mark Shapiro said the ultimate resolution of the WGA strike will improve the fortunes of the company’s representation business. “This is a growth opportunity for us,” Shapiro said during an appearance at a media conference hosted by Wall Street firm JP Morgan. “When this gets settled, however some of these issues get sliced, the writers are going to do better.
That’s just a fact. They’re not coming back for lesser deals or the same deals. They’re going to do better economically. And as they do better economically, that plays into the ecosystem.
And then we, as a leader in that space, WME, we’ll take our fair share of that ecosystem.” Shapiro also reiterated points Endeavor execs have made recently about the company’s diversification across fashion, digtial, sports and other areas.
TV and film, the company has said, represent about half of core agency revenue. Endeavor is “in a good place” despite the current production shutdowns during the WGA impasse’s fourth week and soon-to-expire contracts for the DGA and SAG-AFTRA, Shapiro maintained.
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