Since the 2000s, one series that has reigned supreme has been Supernatural by creator Eric Kripke. But despite the series’s grand success from 2005 to 2020, Kripke revealed during the WGA strike that he makes nothing from its Netflix residuals.
During the age of Vampire Diaries and Twilight, Supernatural was one of the most successful series in history. It told the story of two brothers who take up their father’s family business of becoming supernatural hunters. The story of Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) ran for an incredible 15 seasons. It is still re-run on TV and streaming platforms.
As the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, many actors and crew have gone public with the little to no pay they have received in residuals for some of the most money-making series. Guardians of the Galaxy star Sean Gunn revealed he made no residuals from Netflix for his role on Gilmore Girls. This is Us star Mandy Moore said she would receive 81-cent checks in residuals.
It comes as a shock and further fuels the fire. The Supernatural creator revealed he makes nothing in residuals despite the series being a bigger success than other Netflix hits.
Eric Kripke says Supernatural is the most streamed series on Netflix
The Supernatural creator revealed the majority of his residuals come from TNT, while Netflix has not paid a cent despite it being on the Top 10 list week after week.
The WAG and SAG-AFTRA have seen massive support from multiple groups, with Padalecki, Jensen, the cast, and the crew of Supernatural joining the picket line. According to Deadline, Kripke explained the importance of residuals for writers who could use the money. He compares how Supernatural’s overall streaming views overtake Netflix hits like Squid Game.
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“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,” said Kripke.
He continued by saying: “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.”
Kripke broke down the ludicrous ideology behind businesses not keeping up with the industry. To Deadline, he explained that writers still get paid per episode. But after commissions, taxes, and fees, the pay is next to nothing. “If they want a vibrant new generation of writers, and if they want the next Barbie and Stranger Things and everything that makes billions of dollars, you have to support the kids that are breaking in,” said Kripke.
You can read more TV & Movies content here, Netflix content here, and what Adam Driver has to say about the strikes here.