Disney And WGA West Reach $5.25 Million Settlement For Late Residuals On “The Simpsons” And More
A settlement has been reached between Disney and The Writers Guild of America West for a hefty sum of five and a quarter-million dollars, Deadline reported on Friday. The staggering amount is in regards to late-paid residuals for several Fox animated shows.
These series include Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad, Family Guy, and The Cleveland Show, as well as Matt Groening’s Futurama and his flagship three-decade spanning series, The Simpsons.
According to the WGA West, the $5.25 million settlement with Disney is the largest interest-only settlement in its history, with over 250 affected writers already having received compensation checks for their portion of the collected interest. A Tri-Guild (SAG-AFTRA, WGA West, DGA) was conducted in 2017, which revealed the mistake on Fox’s behalf.
“The studio found that an internal error had led to a widespread failure to pay the residuals for reuse in the foreign free television markets over several years. Fox paid millions of dollars in late paid residuals to the guild in 2018, which was then distributed to the credited writers.”
The WGA West followed up by claiming the interest owed on the late payments, setting an early March 2020 date for the arbitration.
“Despite some resistance from Disney, including an attempt to delay the hearing, the company ultimately agreed to pay the entire amount due, and the writers received $5.25 million in interest, [which] aggressively pursues interest when writers are not paid on time.”
A spokesperson from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists commented with the following.
“SAG-AFTRA partners with the WGA and DGA on Tri-Guild matters. We applaud the WGA settlement with Disney. It highlights the importance and value of the unions’ Tri-Guild Program. SAG-AFTRA has related issues that are ongoing and being handled by counsel. Members may contact us for status updates on those matters.”
All of these shows (except for The Cleveland Show) are or were long-running and beloved animated series. Considering that many episodes are involved, the outrageous sum of $5.25 million doesn’t seem quite so insane.
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