A strike looms on the horizon Monday for thousands of American film and television writers who are demanding an increase in their wages, as a result of the failure to reach any agreement with the actors in the Hollywood sector and with the approaching expiry of the deadline they granted them.

Prominent Hollywood studios and digital platforms, including Disney and Netflix, are in talks with the Writers Guild of America, which is threatening to start a strike after midnight (7:00 am Tuesday GMT) if no agreement is reached.

Such a move would stop the broadcast of successful programs such as those shown in the evening, and significantly delay the launch of TV series and films due to be released this year.

The last major social movement in Hollywood dates back to 2007-2008, when the screenwriters carried out a strike that paralyzed the audiovisual field in the United States, while it lasted for 100 days and caused the sector to lose two billion dollars because of it.

The scriptwriters are calling for higher wages and a larger share of the profits, while production companies assert that they are forced to cut their costs due to the economic conditions.

"Everyone is in the mood that a strike is going to start," said a Los Angeles-based television writer who did not wish to be named, pointing to the possibility of reaching an agreement "that would determine how companies will pay our wages" now and in the future.

The screenwriters assert that they are facing difficulties in living from their profession, in light of their salaries stagnating or even declining due to inflation, at a time when companies are making profits and raising the salaries of their executives.

They point out that they have never had so many workers for the minimum wage set by the unions, while television networks hire fewer people to write miniseries.

One of the main disputes is how screenwriters are paid for streaming series, which often remain available for years after being written on Netflix.

Screenwriters have been receiving payments for decades for the re-use of their work, such as re-producing a television work or selling DVDs of a work.

This amount is either a percentage of the revenue the studios make on a film or program, or a fixed amount paid each time the work is rerun.

But with streaming platforms, writers now receive fixed amounts annually, even if the work achieves global success, similar to the series "Bridgerton" and "Stranger Things", which have garnered hundreds of millions of views around the world.

The Writers Guild of America is calling for a review of these amounts, which are "too low for the reuse of works globally". She would also like to touch on the future impact of AI technology on the screenwriting profession.

As for the studios represented by the Film and Television Producers Alliance, they indicate that the sums paid to screenwriters for the reuse of works reached a record level of $ 494 million in 2021, compared to $ 333 million that were paid ten years ago. One of the prominent reasons for these high numbers is the large increase in scriptwriting jobs associated with the high demand on streaming platforms.

After these platforms have spent large amounts of money in recent years in an effort to increase the number of their subscribers, their managers confirm that they are currently facing great pressure from investors to reduce spending and achieve profits.

They deny that they invoke economic difficulties to strengthen their position in negotiations with the screenwriters.

A source close to the Film and Television Producers Alliance asked, “Do you think Disney will fire 7,000 employees just for entertainment?” He added, “There is only one platform that is profitable at the current stage, which is Netflix.” "Cinema is a very competitive field," he said.