Guild Cracks Down on “Freelance” Writing Abuse

As their season was winding down, the writers on a streaming series learned that their room would close. But during the ensuing weeks, the writers continued to receive notes and were expected to turn in pages.

The studio attempted to re-classify the writers who had been hired on the show’s writing staff to “freelance,” paying only script fees and not weekly fees or the associated health and pension contributions on the weeklies. The writers recognized the unfairness of their situation.

Alyssa Clark and Kara Corhtron [2nd and 3rd from left] on the picket lines at Disney in 2023.

“We were basically still on the show,” recalled Alyssa Clark. “We should be compensated for that.”

“My reps were fighting with them about the money,” added fellow writer Kara Corthron. “At some point, the producers said, ‘OK, we’ll pay them for three weeks.’ That’s not good enough. That’s not right.”

Ultimately, the writers contacted the WGAW’s Legal Department, which filed a claim against the company. Clark and Corthron described a simple process of providing documentation to the Guild. Ultimately the Guild reached a settlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars, which was distributed to the writers shortly before the start of the 2023 WGA strike.

“I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. I didn’t know monetarily what this was going to look like.” Corthron said. “I felt, either way, it’s so good that we’re doing this, that we’re making it really hard for them. That’s what they need to remember. I felt like we were making an important impact.” 

Talia Gonzalez had a similar experience during the ninth season of Hawaii Five-0, when the writer-producer learned that she would be expected to work extra weeks—without being paid weekly minimums. The writers’ room had closed, even though there was still work to be done, and the company was trying to get around weekly and health and pension payments by classifying the writers as “freelance.”

“My episode was being shot, so I was still having to watch dailies,” Gonzalez said.

One of the writers on the series brought the situation to the attention of the Guild’s Legal Department which opened a claim against CBS for practices on Hawaii Five-0 as well as on MacGyver and SEAL Team. The Guild won a settlement of more than $3 million on behalf of the 24 affected writers on those three series.

“I had no expectations of what we were going to get when that check came in, and it was a big chunk of money,” Gonzalez said. “Obviously with the industry the way it is now, it came at such a good time. It was desperately needed.”

“With the Guild, you’re never completely powerless,” she added.