{"id":568044,"date":"2023-03-30T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/potential-writers-strike-presents-disruption-and-opportunity-to-global-content-creators\/"},"modified":"2023-03-30T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T08:00:00","slug":"potential-writers-strike-presents-disruption-and-opportunity-to-global-content-creators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/potential-writers-strike-presents-disruption-and-opportunity-to-global-content-creators\/","title":{"rendered":"#Potential\u00a0Writers Strike Presents Disruption (and Opportunity) to Global Content Creators\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n If Hollywood writers go on strike \u2014 a possibility as we close in on the\u00a0May 1\u00a0deadline without\u00a0a new deal between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) \u2014 the impact will be felt far beyond New York and Los Angeles. Around the world, producers and distribution companies, not to mention non-WGA affiliated writers, are closely watching the ongoing negotiations, with an expectation that a WGA walkout could mean a boost in demand for new international content.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAs with previous WGA strikes, we\u2019d expect there will be an increased demand for content from outside the U.S., particularly from English-speaking countries like the U.K. and Australia,\u201d says Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben of German mini-major Constantin Film, producers of the English-language\u00a0Resident Evil\u00a0<\/em>horror\u00a0franchise as well as German films and series<\/a> including\u00a0We Children from Bahnhof Zoo<\/em>, which streams on Amazon, and\u00a0KaDeWe<\/em>, carried on the BBC in the U.K. and\u00a0Stan<\/em>\u00a0in Australia. \u201cThe full impact will depend on how long the strike lasts. The best outcome is a very short strike, since it will limit the disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n [Constantin has its own history with the WGA. In 2021, the guild briefly ordered union members to stop working with the company following a dispute over residuals and health and pension plan contributions, though both parties eventually settled.]<\/p>\n

\n Louise Pedersen, CEO of All3Media<\/a> International, which handles global sales on such series as Amazon Prime\u2019s\u00a0The English\u00a0<\/em>starring Emily Blunt and\u00a0All Creatures Great and Small<\/em>, which airs on PBS stateside, said the pivot towards international shows was already evident at the London TV Screenings earlier this month, with broadcasters and streamers looking at international shows as a possible contingency plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n \u201cA lot of American buyers were planning for [the strike] and talking about shows as potential acquisitions,\u201d said Pedersen, speaking at a panel at French television festival SeriesMania on March 21. \u201cI suspect they\u2019re doing research behind the scenes for back-up lists [should the strike happ<\/a>en].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n The last WGA strike, a 100-day work stoppage between 2007 and 2008, saw a significant opening in the U.S. market to non-American shows, with Canada the prime beneficiary. Mid-season pick-ups by U.S. networks of Canadian series like\u00a0Flashpoint<\/em>(on CBS) and\u00a0The Listener\u00a0<\/em>(NBC), used to plug the gap in fresh content as U.S. scripted series went off the air, helped usher in a gold rush for Canadian producers looking to get their shows on American primetime. What followed were the likes of\u00a0Rookie Blue<\/em>\u00a0on ABC, CW soap\u00a0The L.A. Complex<\/em>,\u00a0Orphan Black<\/em>\u00a0on BBC America, and NBC\u2019s\u00a0Saving Hope<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Karen Thorne-Stone, president and CEO of Ontario Creates, which markets the province to Hollywood producers, is confident high-end Canadian series can help fill and strike-induced gap in schedules south of the border.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere\u2019s still room for growth on that side, which will certainly buffer any negative impact from U.S. production,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n Since the 2007\/2008 strike, the U.S. market has become even more open to non-American. series \u2014 see the primetime success of\u00a0Downton Abbey<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Sherlock<\/em>\u00a0on PBS \u2014 and even non-English-language shows. This has been particularly evident on streaming services. Alongside Netflix hits like\u00a0Narcos<\/em>,\u00a0Dark<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Squid Game<\/a><\/em>, Hulu has had success with imports like German spy thriller\u00a0Deutschland 83<\/em>\u00a0and Scandi noir\u00a0The Bridge,\u00a0<\/em>Sundance Now with\u00a0Irish procedural\u00a0The Fall\u00a0<\/em>and French drama\u00a0The Bureau.\u00a0<\/em>Sony-owned Crunchyroll has turned its once-niche market for Asian content into a mainstream juggernaut, extending beyond the small screen to box office successes with the likes of\u00a0Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n With much of the world is still in the thralls of a production boom \u2014 the pullback by global streamers is only starting to work its way through the international industry \u2014 there will be plenty of product available should U.S. demand spike.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere could be opportunities and an impact,\u201d says Cathy Payne, CEO of Banijay Rights, whose massive slate includes numerous series from the U.K. (Peaky Blinders<\/em>,\u00a0Chloe<\/em>), France (Versailles<\/em>,\u00a0Maria Antoinette<\/em>), and Scandinavia (Beck<\/em>,\u00a0Black Lake<\/em>) and Australia (Tin Star<\/em>,\u00a0Wolf Creek<\/em>). \u201cBut strikes have gone on in the past and we like to think we can sell our product in any case \u2013 and have good market reach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n For the moment, the bigger U.S. networks are busy shooting originals ahead of the\u00a0May 1deadline in an effort to stockpile content ahead of possible strike.\u00a0\u201c<\/s><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe important thing is being able to plan properly,\u201d says Moszkowicz. \u201cFor feature films, we\u2019re already seeing that the deadlines for writers are being set so they deliver before the strike, so that productions can go ahead in the summer. But if a strike lasts several months, it could have a real impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n For many international companies, however, that impact will not be all positive. The biggest non-U.S. producers and sales companies have tight ties stateside \u2014 \u201cwe all produce in America so [a strike] could harm us quite a bit on the production side,\u201d noted Fremantle International CEO Jens Richter at SeriesMania \u2014 and few relish the prospect of an extended walkout. Not least because many U.S. films and shows shoot outside the country. If the WGA lays down tools\u00a0on May 1, production on some of the world\u2019s biggest soundstages could grind to a halt.<\/p>\n

\n North of the border, local studio operators are girding for a possible labor action.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cHere we go again. I\u2019m not surprised,\u201d says Paul Bronfman, chairman and CEO of studio operator Comweb Corp. Bronfman, who is also chairman of Pinewood Toronto Studios, said studios with less overheads and long-term leases from major studios and streamers will find it easier to weather any dispute. \u201cThey\u2019re paying the rent. They may come back and renegotiate, but the stages are full.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s an unfortunate pause and [would mean] sort of a forced vacation for a lot of us,\u201d notes Sean Williamson, head of Brightlight Pictures in Vancouver, which co-produces U.S. content with American partners and its own originals. \u201cBut people will focus on other projects, develop other things while they can, while we wait for any potential and hopefully amicable settlement and the writers are happy and the studios are happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Williamson adds a conclusion of a tough year of negotiations for U.S. producers with the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA\u2019s TV\/Theatrical contracts, in addition to the WGA negotiations, will likely be followed by a quick resumption of Hollywood production on Canadian soundstages.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere will be a pause, while they sort out the negotiations. And there will be a quick restart of physical production as quickly as everyone can get it going again,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\n Until then, there\u2019s uncertainty in the Canadian industry as American producers either bring fewer projects north or look to conclude production on what\u2019s already before the cameras ahead of possible labor stoppages.<\/p>\n

\n Notes Justin Cutler, Ontario\u2019s Film Commissioner with Ontario Creates: \u201cThings may dip. We\u2019re tracking this very closely, just to see where this will all end.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n