Netflix's exorbitant pay package for executives has been shot down. Currently, the Writers Guild of America has been on strike for exactly one month over issues involving fair compensation, minimum staffing numbers for writers rooms, writer job security, viewer-based residuals for writers on streaming series, and regulation of the use of AI. In spite of this, Netflix recently asked shareholders to approve over $166 million in retroactive executive pay, over double the $68 million that the WGA is asking of the company.
Per Netflix executive pay package. While the "say on pay" vote is non-binding, last year only 27 percent of the shareholders voted for a similar request, so there is little overall for this kind of package. The WGA ed this vote, saying Netflix's board should address the strike and "spend less time thinking of ways to pay its executive team more money." Check out the WGA's full response to this decision below:
Many Netflix Projects Are Impacted by the Writers Strike
The industry-wide call to put pencils down has impacted every corner of Hollywood. As the WGA represents writers in both the television and film spheres, scripted onscreen projects both large and small have been shut down in the meantime. This includes everything from soap operas and late-night talk shows to huge blockbusters like Marvel's Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali.
There are quite a few major Netflix titles that are being delayed by the strike as well. This includes production on the final season of the platform's flagship series Stranger Things. Other projects that have been put on pause include Big Mouth season 6, Cobra Kai season 6, the Rob Lowe series Unstable, and the sitcom The Upshaws.
It remains to be seen how long the 2023 writers strike will last. The most recent comparable strike, which took place in late 2007, took over three months to be settled. While it will be the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers rather than Netflix itself that is responsible for making a deal and ending the strike, hopefully, this executive pay rejection is a shot across the bow that will help push negotiations along sooner than later.