![]() Other streamers followed, and since then more than two dozen comedy-variety and talk series have been made for streaming services, employing several hundred writers. In 2015, Netflix expanded its original content production to include comedy-variety and talk shows with the launch of With Bob and David. Median weekly pay for showrunners on streaming series is 46% lower than for showrunners on broadcast shows. Without span protection, their median weekly pay is nearly 50% lower than it would be if their episodic fee only covered 2.4 weeks of work.Ĭo-EPs, EPs and showrunners on streaming series also earn much less on a weekly basis than their peers on broadcast series. With long production schedules, these writers find their episodic fees amount to little more than weekly scale when stretched over so many weeks. Many upper-level writers-40% of Co-EPs, EPs and Showrunners on short-order series-are left without span protection because they earn over the MBA threshold. More than 40% of showrunners working on streaming series reported working for over 52 weeks on their most recent season. Showrunners, on the other hand, are working almost the same number of weeks in streaming as they do in broadcast, reflecting the true length of time these series take to complete. As the chart below shows, the new “typical” employment for lower- and mid-level writers on a streaming series is 20-24 weeks, or only 14 weeks if the room is convened without a series order (ie, a pre-greenlight room). In addition to falling weekly pay, most writers on streaming shows are earning less per season because of shorter work periods. Adjusting for inflation, the decline is 23%. Median weekly writer-producer pay has declined 4% over the last decade. Increasing numbers of seasoned writers, including showrunners, are now paid no overscale premium for their years of experience. In the 2013-14 season, 33% of all TV series writers were paid minimum now half are working at minimum. With the rising dominance of streaming-where half of series writers now work-short orders, the separation of writing and production, and the lack of a season calendar have depressed writer pay.Īs the chart below shows, at every job title, more writers work at MBA minimum now than a decade ago. Particularly for screenwriters working at or near MBA minimum, these conditions are untenable. Their pay is often stretched out over many months and can be held hostage by producers’ demands for free work. In comedy-variety, writers working for streaming services-which are now the primary platforms for entertainment content-lack the most basic protection of MBA minimums.įor screenwriters, compensation has also stagnated over the past four years. ![]() And while series budgets have soared over the past decade, median writer-producer pay has fallen. On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, or in mini-rooms, while showrunners are left without a writing staff to complete the season. The companies have used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels. While company profits have remained high and spending on content has grown, writers are falling behind.
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