We’re still at the top of 2025, so things could get better for writers in Hollywood, but right now, a new report makes the state of screenwriting and TV writing look pretty bleak.
Last Friday, the WGA emailed its members a report detailing the number of jobs lost over the last few years. The news was heavy.
According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, the 2023-24 TV season saw 1,319 fewer writer jobs compared to the previous year (pre-strikes). Higher-level positions (Co-EP and up) accounted for 642 of these losses (-40%), while lower-level roles dropped by 378 (-46%) and mid-level positions decreased by 299 (-42%).
In fact, the total number of television writing jobs last season (2023-24) plummeted to 1,819, a 42% drop from the 2022-23 season and significantly fewer than the 2,722 jobs during the COVID-affected 2019-20 season.
So what’s to blame?
There are a lot of factors that contribute to drops like this one, including the decline in peak TV, the strikes, consolidation, and budget constraints at streamers.
The WGA said in the report, “With an industry in transition — cable TV subscriptions and cable programming declining, a massive run-up and then pullback in streaming series as Wall Street demands quicker streaming platform profits — the number of TV jobs has declined.”
In its email to members, the WGA stated, “Writing careers have always been difficult to access and sustain, but the contraction has made it especially challenging,” it continues, “We are all subject to the decisions of the companies that control this industry, who have pulled back spending on content based on the demands of Wall Street. Compounding that, the current administration seems intent on causing economic chaos and undermining our democracy.”
All of this news affects people at all levels, but it definitely could be a really worrisome state for people in film school about to graduate or people still trying to break in out here. Seeing this, many established workers out of work might discourage new voices from seeking out work in Hollywood.
The fact of the matter is that Hollywood always goes through eras of contraction, and peak TV, with its sheer number of shows, was a bubble that was always going to burst. We’re just learning now how many shows can be sustained on these networks.
Many people want to blame the strikes, but they secured mandatory staffing numbers for shows, and who knows how many jobs would be down if those were not in place. Same with the protections they got from AI.
We’re in 2025 now, and the best thing we can do to secure more jobs is to find a way to make shows cheaper and to make sure the shows we put on get eyeballs and subscribers. That means making more popular shows and staffing them up with a bunch of writers so you get a diverse and exciting product you can sell.
Let us know what you think of all this in the comments section below.
Author: NFS Staff
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
