WGA 2012 Annual Report: TV? Okay. Screenwriters? Ouch!
Every year the WGA west puts out a financial report. You may download a PDF of the most recent summary here. There are pages of numbers related to the latest year with figures available (2011), but the most significant ones as far as we are concerned are these:
* Number of Writers Reporting Earnings
* Total Earnings Reported
* Percent Change Vs. Prior Year [for both categories]
On the TV side, 2011 was okay:
Number of Writers Reporting Earnings: 3,320
Percent Change Vs. Prior Year: + 0.4%
Total Earnings Reported: $559.2 million
Percent Change Vs. Prior Year: — 1.2%
A slight downturn in earnings, but as noted in the report, late filings will likely boost those numbers to approximate the 2010 levels.
On the movie side of things, the word “ouch” best describes the state of affairs:
Number of Writers Reporting Earnings: 1,562
Percent Change Vs. Prior Year: — 8.1%
Total Earnings Reported: $349.1 million
Percent Change Vs. Prior Year: -12.6%
Note that the high water mark for writers reporting earnings in the last six years was in 2007 and that total was 2,041. A drop from 2,041 to 1,562 is… let’s calculate this… um… basically that sucks.
Looking at the peak earnings in the last 6 years, also 2007 with $526.6 million, the drop to $349M falls into the category of… calculating… really sucks.
What are the root causes of this situation? Many, I’m sure, and I hope that people with more business insight than me will carry that conversation into comments. But one contributing factor has to be the reduced number of movies major studios are producing.
For example in 2007, Warner Bros. distributed 24 movies. In 2011, the total was 26. An uptick, right? Wrong. The 2011 total includes New Line, which Warner Bros. absorbed through a merger in 2008. In 2007, there were 13 New Line movies. So the total actually goes down from 37 in 2007 to 24.
The numbers decline pretty much across the board with the major studios [2007 / 2011]:
Paramount 16 / 15
Sony / Columbia 25 / 23
Universal 18 / 15
20th Century Fox 16 / 15
Even Lionsgate is down: 17 / 12
With both New Line and DreamWorks going forward with fewer new projects combined with the major studios scaling back on the movies they produce, that translates into fewer jobs for screenwriters.
Moreover if the major studios are focusing much of their development and production dollars on a handful of big budget franchise movies as opposed to several more moderately priced projects, that means fewer gigs to go around as well.
There is no way to spin this other than to acknowledge the fact the situation for screenwriters is even more competitive than ever.
Are screenwriters continuing to find employment in Hollywood? Yes. Are new screenwriters breaking in each year? Yes. Are spec script sales still relatively strong? Yes. But a 25% drop in writers reporting earnings from 2007 to 2011 is a startling number.
Here’s the thing. It could be a 50% drop. Hell, a 75% drop. You know what? Anybody who is really passionate about pursuing screenwriting as a craft will not be dissuaded to try. 1,562 screenwriters may seem paltry, but it’s still 1,562 opportunities to land a Hollywood writing gig. Sure, it’s more competitive, but in a way, so what? People who have the bug for movies and writing them already know that. By default, we are underdogs. And I suspect for most of us, that just fuels our desire to succeed and prove we belong.
I will say this, however: Because it is a more competitive situation, now more than ever, you need to get your shit together. Immerse yourself in the craft. Watch more movies. Read more scripts. Write more pages. You can learn the craft that way. To expedite the process, find a mentor you can trust to speed your learning process.
Also track the business so you understand its ins and outs more thoroughly. How? Well, keep visiting this humble blog as I will continue to cover the business side of things as I have since I started the site in 2008. Listen to the ScriptNotes podcasts by John August and Craig Mazin. In addition, read Deadline, TheWrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety. Professional screenwriters track this stuff. You should, too.
Look, I could try to paint a rosy picture for you, but that would be a lie. It’s tough out there! And I feel I owe it to you to give you the unvarnished truth, at least as I see it.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s this: Hollywood is a peaks and valleys thing. Sure, the numbers may be down now, but come back in 5 years, and I’m willing to bet the numbers will have risen. Hell, we could be talking about the slide in TV writers in 2016. That’s just the way it is. As Max Millimeter says, “Hollywood is one crazy fucking business.”
What are your thoughts on these numbers? As a writer, how do you respond to them?
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