Writers Guild Of Canada Says “Our Domestic Industry Is Dying” As Writers’ Pay Falls 22% During Past Five Years

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Saying that the production and presentation of Canadian programming “is in a state of collapse,” the Writers Guild of Canada revealed today that during the past five years, the aggregate earnings of its Canadian citizen members have declined by nearly 22% when adjusted for inflation. “These numbers demonstrate the dire straits that Canadian screenwriters find themselves in,” said WGC President Alex Levine. “The 22% drop in Canadian screenwriter earnings has been devastating to our members.

Out of work writers are switching careers. Others are leaving the country. Our domestic industry is dying.” RELATED: WGA To Picket Amazon’s “Prime Day”, Recasting It As “Crime Day” The WGC presented its finding in a submission to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission as part of the CRTC’s consultations for a modernized regulatory framework and support for Canadian and Indigenous content.

Read the WGC’s submission here. The WGC says its data “demonstrates that the decade-long boom in foreign service production – Hollywood productions that shoot and crew in Canada but are creatively driven from Los Angeles – does not benefit Canadian screenwriters.” “When a Hollywood show comes here to shoot, that may create jobs for crew but not Canadian screenwriters,” Levine said. “These series aren’t Canadian, they aren’t written by Canadians, and they don’t have an authorial Canadian voice.

We need to make sure Canadian shows get produced too. We can’t just be a branch production plant for Hollywood.” The WGC, which represents 2,500 professional English-language Canadian screenwriters, said its data “should be a wake-up call” for the government and regulators. “The Government needs to make sure that the policy direction