There is a bar in Studio City where writers and actors can exchange any check with tips under a dollar for a drink.
This means that the bar, the balances, are now likely to receive fewer checks from issuers after it was announced that the WGA West is implementing direct deposits for the first time.
The writers’ union, which won an increase in royalties, especially for streaming, during last year’s strike, is rolling out the new direct deposit system in stages. Some writers received emails last week to register with the new payment platform, while others will receive those emails in the coming weeks and the system will eventually be available to all WGA West members.
Last month, the WGAW’s annual financial report revealed that while the union employed fewer people and earned less last year as a result of the strike, it collected more royalties.
The introduction of direct deposit has already been received positively by the authors, although some joked about the loss of the green envelopes.
David H. Steinberg, the creator of Netflix Not good, Nick, announced the move on social media and received numerous responses from fellow authors.
Nina Weinman Swift, who has written Hallmark films including A Nashville legacy And Catch me if you are Claus, said she received direct deposits through the pilot program. “Even though I miss the green envelopes, it’s been really nice,” she wrote on X.
Daniel Pipski, who wrote the film with George Clooney and Julia Roberts Ticket to paradise and is executive producer of HBO’s The Penguin series, adding that it was “great” but that he would “miss the green envelopes.”
Others joked about the loss of the green envelopes. Jessica McCoy wrote on X: “But what if you want your 72 cent check so you can have a drink at Residuals?”
