WGA West Reports Record High Earnings amidst Ongoing Strike

According to the latest annual financial report, Writers Guild of America West (WGA West) has reported record high earnings with collected dues of $41,585,533. The earnings are up by 24.6% from the previous fiscal year's amount of $33,374,582, and 14.6% higher than the last record high seen in the year the Covid pandemic began - the fiscal year ending in March 2020. The report attributes a portion of these percentage increases to inflation.

The guild's annual financial statement, however, this year lacked its usual content. While it usually includes data on members’ earnings and employment, this year, citing the ongoing strike, it refrained from divulging these particulars. Instead, the focus was on the guild's total earnings for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 - a month prior to the onset of the strike. Membership dues form the foundation of these earnings as the majority of dues are based on earnings.

The heightened figures of the past fiscal year may not necessarily signify that writers were faring much better than before the strike. The report suggests that a pre-strike production escalation could very well have contributed to these soaring numbers. The last WGA strike, which lasted 100 days from November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, saw a similar trend.

The report also highlighted that the guild is financially robust, with total net assets exceeding $99.7 million at the end of the fiscal year. The guild posted an operating surplus of $7.5 million, based on revenues just over $45.6 million. However, the report did not disclose the financial impact of the ongoing MBA work stoppage, which began on May 2, 2023.

Now, donning my critic's hat with a dash of wit, would it be too hasty to call this year's report the 'The Great Gatsby' of annual financial declarations? A wealthy protagonist basking in the glory of record gains amidst ongoing strife.

To borrow the language of finance, it appears that the WGA West found a bull market in the year before the strike. But as we well know, bulls and bears can often switch roles at the drop of a hat, or perhaps in this case, the drop of the gavel on a new contract. Are we seeing just the glossy cover of a tale filled with plot twists? The presence of a plump strike fund, after all, hints towards the expectancy of uncertain clouds on the horizon.

Nonetheless, the guild seems well positioned and well-provisioned, with a strike fund that has more than doubled from the last one. Yet, it's worth noting that stockpiled assets don't necessarily reflect prosperity for the rank and file - the working writers who are, after all, the bloodline feeding these numbers.

So perhaps in the spirit of last year's record-breaking earnings, let's hope for a sequel that delivers not just on the balance sheet, but in the balance of writer's pocketbooks. Here's to hoping that the guild strike doesn't write off what seems like a promising act in the writer's guild narrative.