Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have continued throughout the summer and are now heading into fall with no end in sight. Why? The simple answer is that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) would rather lose hundreds of millions of dollars than pay writers and actors fairly. And while studios and television networks are required to pay residuals to guild members, the world of streaming is more nebulous. Case in point: Supernatural creator Eric Kripke recently revealed that he has not received any residuals since his long-running series landed on Netflix.
In an interview with Deadline, Kripke said,
” I’ll give a perfect example. The residuals I get are from its airing on TNT, which you know, it gets a couple hundred thousand views. The Netflix streaming of Supernatural is consistently in the Top 10 for billions of minutes streamed. Part of that is because there’s so many episodes, but still, if you just go by how many people are spending minutes watching that show, it blows away Squid Game and blows away things that are massive hits, and I’ve gotten a total of zero residuals for that. No one should cry for me. I’m doing great. I’m not asking for any sympathy for that. I’m just pointing out the inequity. Then when you think of all the writers on my staff, who really could use that money, are in between jobs or something, that’s significant. The fact that [streamers] can just live in this sort of new media disruptor black box and not pay what other networks are paying doesn’t seem fair.”
Supernatural lasted for 15 seasons and garnered many fans across the world. The fantasy horror series went through ups and downs, but fans held strong, and so did the series. We got a love story for the ages (Destiel) and themes about found family. Eric Kripke may have bowed out of the show after the fifth season, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t receive residuals. The idea that Netflix in particular can get away with not paying creatives residuals for shows is horrible.
In 2022, Netflix made $31.616 billion in USD. Think about how much money that is. The CEOs of these steaming giants continue to get richer while the work of the creatives who literally make the content is undervalued. Supernatural has been in the top 10 for Netflix US since it hit the streamer. But none of those residuals are going to Kripke (and those involved in the series). If that doesn’t alarm anybody, then I don’t know what else will.
Creatives deserve streaming residuals, and they deserve much better overall. Undervaluing those who make you money drives people to strike. And we can only hope that demands are met sooner for the sake of those striking.
(via Deadline, featured image: The CW)
