• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

What Hollywood’s Writers Actually Want

As the WGA consults its angry members on big demands ahead of negotiations, here are the likely theaters of war—and what could drive a walkout.

The ’07 WGA strike in Los Angeles and the accompanying solidarity march.
The ’07 WGA strike in Los Angeles and the accompanying solidarity march. Photo: Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Jonathan Handel
February 13, 2023

Confounding expectations, the Director’s Guild told members last week that it would wait until “later this spring” to negotiate new TV and theatrical contracts, which expire June 30. “Later” most likely means the Writers Guild will negotiate first—its contract expires May 1—which increases the likelihood of a WGA strike. The writers are frustrated and united, as they showed in their successful 2018-2020 battle against the talent agencies and at a lively member meeting yesterday that attracted about 500 writers.