Collective Agreements
As more Guilds begin to develop collective agreements or mandatory contract clauses, it’s useful to compare what others have achieved and are striving for. Below are examples of some different approaches to the digital environment. We look forward to adding many more.
Canada
The Independent Production Agreement (IPA) between the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is platform neutral, meaning writers are paid the same rates whether the program is intended for a traditional broadcaster or streaming service. Remuneration encompasses a script fee based on the scope of the contracted writing services, including broadcast length, and a production fee, calculated on the size of the budget and payable on the first day of principal photography. For more details, access the full IPA here.
Great Britain
Writers Digital Payments is a not-for-profit scheme, set up by WGGB and the Personal Managers’ Association (PMA) to deliver payment for work streamed by BBC and ITV.
Since the first WDP payments were made in 2015, over £6.8 million has hit the bank accounts of writers.
WGGB and the PMA negotiate a lump sum per year with the broadcasters and WDP distributes the funds according to data provided by those broadcasters. Payments are then made to writers via ALCS. WDP payments are based on the number of clicks a show receives. This means that writers are rewarded if their show does well on the platform – the more people who watch their show the more the writer is paid.
Writers don’t have to be members of WGGB to be eligible for payments but must have a relevant clause included in their contract.
United States
The Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) between Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America, East (jointly, WGA), and companies represented by the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) covers writing for online platforms under terms and conditions similar to those for television. Compensation includes script fees equivalent to those for network television or basic cable, depending primarily on budget, as well as weekly compensation and residuals for domestic and international reuse on the original platform that increase depending on the platforms’ number of subscribers. WGA writers are currently on strike over—among other issues—undervaluation of their content on streaming services, proposing increases to the foreign streaming residual to account for streamers’ global growth and an additional viewership-based residual to reward the writers of successful projects. More on the MBA can be found here.