Amid the current WGA strike, it is of course no withheld secret that fair compensation among script and screenwriters is completely unprovided to them, and the demand for substantial wages is the end goal to satisfy all writing employees. Evidently, a scriptwriter that works within the niche of superhero television has come out speaking his own witnessing of how a company such as 'Marvel' treats their writers with payment.
J. Holtham has contributed his writing competence to a number of projects; both within Marvel and DC, working on shows such as 'Supergirl', 'Cloak and Dagger', and 'Jessica Jones'. Amid his interview with Popverse, Holtham was questioned on what was the primary motivation shared by him and his colleagues to join the WGA strike, and surprisingly, it of course landed at "the studio":
For an upper-level writer, the quote is $25,000 per script. Say you’re doing ten episodes, and you’re getting $25,000 per episode: You’re getting $250,000. But since that’s not tied to a weekly paycheck [as is the case for younger writers], their pay week to week reduces and reduces and reduces. - J. Holtham, Popverse
Holtham reveals while upper-level writers compensation is seemingly more "stable", as is the case because they have worked their way up the ranks, for more younger writers attached to these shows, their employment is "flexible", with that being the more scripts they write, the lower their compensation turns out to be. Holtham went on to highlight this fact when discussing his tenure as a "staff writer" for Marvels 'Cloak and Dagger':
So when I was a staff writer on 'Cloak and Dagger,' I was on a strict 20-week contract. [Note: "Staff writer" is the lowest paid writer in a writers' room. Generally with each new season of work a young writer is promoted to another level of pay and a new title until one reaches "Executive Producer."] I got to the end of my 20 weeks, I left at the level of staff writer. I was making 4 grand a week." - J. Holtham
Coincidentally, this story seemingly turns around for the better, as Holtham then goes on to discuss his experience working as a "story-editor" for Marvels 'Jessica Jones', upon coming out of making what 'Cloak and Dagger' paid him:
I went to 'Jessica Jones,' and became a story editor there, my weekly doubled to 8 grand a week. I worked 20 weeks on that and then immediately went back to 'Cloak & Dagger' for Season 2, where I was executive story editor and did my twenty weeks." - J. Holtham
Holtham discovered while working as "story editor" for 'Jessica Jones', was the executive producers on those shows are paid lower than a lower-ranked position such as a "story editor":
"In that time the executive producers I worked for on 'Jessica Jones' were only on 'Jessica Jones' for all of that time. I made more money as a story editor than they made as EPs in that time." - J. Holtham
The fact of the matter according to Holtham is that the studio has absolutely just abused these situations of where these writers are positioned and how much they should be paid, and that causes the writers to choose not to fill out their 20 weeks in spite of it, leaving the showrunner to complete all the remaining episodes:
"Yeahhh. And since then the studios have just abused the situation even more. Now, instead of a writers’ room for 20 weeks, you’ll get a mini room for 6 or 8 weeks, then the writers leave, and if you’re the showrunner you might just be writing all the episodes yourself, covering set yourself, covering production yourself, and everything gets amortized down. It’s a real f*** you." - J. Holtham
It is disgusting how studio interference can particularly inaugurate such mass intoleration and pleading for proper compensation that is in their control, and yet they have the audacity to demand perfectly written scripts for their programs. Contractually obligated or not, it is wrong, and hopefully our fellow hard working script and screenwriters can earn exactly what they deserve.