The largest agencies have instead used the power of their clients to monopolize packaging and earn their fees directly from the studios. What happened in these two decades? The Guild achieved increases in minimums during this time, but agents have not kept up their end of the bargain by fighting for increases in their clients’ overscale payments. The third column of figures shows the 1995-2000 rates adjusted for inflation. The main factor driving the increase in median quotes for co-producer and producer level writers is the annual increase in Article 14 minimums negotiated by the Guild. The WGAW reviewed TV writer-producer contracts from the late 90’s to reveal that median quotes have barely budged in two decades and in some cases have declined. The median episodic fee for each level of writer-producer remained flat or declined by up to 7% between 2013-18.īut episodic quotes have been stagnating for longer than this two-year period. Some of this decline was due to the rise of short seasons and increased time spent working on each episode, but the surveys have also revealed that episodic quotes are under pressure. During the 2017-18 season, median weekly compensation improved slightly compared to 2015-16, but remains 16% lower than in 2013-14. Between the 2013-16 seasons, the median weekly compensation for writer-producer declined 23%. The survey results confirmed that pay was falling. So much so that the Guild began to more closely monitor total writer-producer income in television by soliciting information in three surveys, first in the 2013-14 season, then again in the 2015-2016 season, and most recently for the 2017-2018 season. But for some time now writers have been experiencing declining overscale compensation in television. Agents traditionally negotiate an individual writer’s overscale compensation (fees above minimums) which depends on the individual’s leverage and should keep pace with market conditions. The MBA establishes minimum compensation for writers. We have made gains in the MBA to deal with many of the business practices that are responsible for depressing writers’ overall wages-short seasons, the spreading of episode fees over a longer period of time, and onerous options and exclusivity provisions. Much of that success has been fueled by the huge growth in domestic and international demand for the quality content produced by Guild members. Shouldn’t writer income have been growing instead at the rate of inflation or more? The major companies we bargain with have experienced an extended and unprecedented period of profitability. That would be $27,300 in today’s dollars.īut again, 17 years later, Supervising Producers at the median were making only $17,500 per episode. In 2000, a Supervising Producer on a one-hour network drama in its first season made $17,500 per episode. Adjusted for inflation the fee would be more than $23,400 today.īut in the WGA’s survey of TV writers from the 2017-18 season, the median episodic fee for a writer at the Producer level was only $16,000 per episode. In 1999, a writer with the title of Producer on a half-hour network comedy in its first season made $15,000 per episode. Losing Ground Writers are the creative heart of television and are ultimately responsible for the most important assets in the business, yet they have been left behind. Member Resources (external – opens in a new window).
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