“It came down to the wire,” recalls David Scarpa, who was racing to complete a draft of his screenplay for Gladiator 2, a sequel to the Oscar-winning film starring Russell Crowe. “I had gotten the email which said you must stop writing at 12 midnight and so I was writing up until 12 and literally hit send at 11.59 to the producers with the draft and then it was, ‘OK, so you see when it’s over.’”
Scarpa and fellow members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were then in creative limbo for 148 days. They took to picket lines outside major studios to demand improved minimum pay, increased streaming residuals and guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence. The strike came to an end this week. The writers declared victory and got back to work.
