Hollywood writers’ strike casts shadow on web show slate and OTT biz

The ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood has the potential to cause significant disruptions, particularly for web series that have garnered substantial following among urban, English-speaking audiences in India, said industry experts.

While tentpole Hollywood productions are meticulously planned well in advance, with this year’s lineup already finalized, the process of writing and producing a series is typically more time-consuming. Consequently, executives from various platforms are apprehensive about the potential impact on upcoming programming.

Media reports indicate that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has presented a collective set of demands valued at a staggering $429 million. These demands include higher minimum pay and increased residual payments from streaming platforms. For now, the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the organization representing major film studios, television networks, streaming services, and production companies in Hollywood, are yet to reach a consensus in contract negotiations. As a result, writers have ceased work since early May.

“The web series business takes a lot of time. Shows take longer to write, create, put together and come out on platforms, and they can’t be ready before time. That is evident in how most streaming platforms are able to put out 12-15 original shows at best, a year. There is immense potential for those to get affected,” a senior content producer said requesting anonymity.

Streaming content in Hollywood will get stuck if writing stops because all functions, be it production or marketing, are linked to whether a script has been written and, subsequently, shot, he added.

While the Indian market is dependent on local language originals, international content is fast catching up.

According to a report by media consulting firm Ormax, the number of Indians watching international English content ballooned from 19.1 million pre-pandemic to 85.2 million, up 124%. While some may watch in English, others prefer the dubbed versions. 66-67% subscription-based video-on-demand service (SVoD) English content viewers identify the category as an important aspect of their decision to subscribe to a platform, it added. In fact, 14 English language originals crossed the 10 million viewership mark in India since January 2021.

In its earnings call, Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive, Netflix, had said the last time there was a strike, it was devastating for creators. “It was really hard. It was painful for local economies that support production and it was very bad for fans. We really don’t want this to happen, but we had to make plans for the worst,” Sarandos had said.

Christine McCarthy, senior executive vice-president and chief financial officer, Walt Disney, said content cost estimates for 2023 do not include any potential impacts from the writers‘ strike. “We have not estimated it as it is a new development and we haven’t really quantified what that would be because we don’t know how long it will last,” McCarthy had added in an earnings call.

Independent film exhibitor Vishek Chauhan said the going hasn’t exactly been smooth for Hollywood in India over the past few months but it remains to be seen if tentpole Marvel or DC titles get impacted by the strike. “The bigger challenge, at the moment, should be for OTT, that needs to be fed a lot more regularly,” he added.

To be sure, the movie slate is less likely to be impacted since most feature films are ready a few months before release.