The Hollywood Reporter
Intermittent rain and quite a bit of wind did not appear to deter striking writers from again hitting picket lines throughout Los Angeles on Thursday, many of them galvanized by the previous night’s solidarity rally that drew over 1,800 Writers Guild of America members.
During that Shrine Auditorium gathering, the first of its kind since the strike was called on Monday, guild leadership spoke at length about the issues where the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers remained furthest apart.
“To hear leadership really talk about what it was like to be in the [negotiating] room and to hear the words from them was just mind blowing,” Susan Hurwitz said to The Hollywood Reporter on the Thursday picket line at Sony Pictures Studios. A writer-producer whose credits include The Tick and Preacher, Hurwitz also addressed the other unions — the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE — that have voiced their support of the writers. “I think everybody is more determined to fight,” she added. “For the first time, it really feels we’re all together in this. It made it an amazing meeting.”
Three issues seemed to permeate most conversations on the picket lines: the bolstered energy, courtesy of the Wednesday meeting, speculation about upcoming guild negotiations for the DGA and SAG-AFTRA and, shortly after noon Pacific, the AMPTP breaking their silence for the first time since the strike was called. The studios shared a point-by-point document earlier Thursday, at least in part aiming to rebut the WGA’s version of events, elaborating on their position on such sticking points as “mini rooms” and the mounting furor over not actively working to regulate artificial intelligence.
Outside the Warner Bros. Discovery lot in Burbank — which, alongside Netflix, has been among the most trafficked picketing spots — THR caught up with WGA negotiating committee co-chair David Goodman to get an instant reaction to the AMPTP missive.
“I took a quick glance,” said Goodman, who did mention seeing the part about AI in which the studio statement claimed “writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted.”
“That’s a very telling comment,” Goodman added, the audio of his interview just barely discernible over the insistent roar of car horns beeping their support for picketers. “We need a guarantee from them that literary material will be written by a human being. It’s a very easy ask. For them to make that commitment doesn’t hurt their bottom line at all … They say they are our partners. Make that commitment and say ‘We are only going to work with writers who are human beings.’ It’s crazy that I have to say it.”
Seeing as how Wednesday night’s event also included leadership from Teamsters, DGA, SAG-AFTRA and IATSE, the possibility of a multi-union strike — still a long way off, as similar DGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts don’t expire until June 30 — was also considered by many.
“This is for all of us,” said SAG-AFTRA member Colleen Kresoja, who was picketing outside Sony earlier in the day. “Fairness to one of us in the industry; fairness to all. I’m here to stand by writers … I want [the writers] to get a fair contract and I’ll stay by their side until they do.”
Hurwitz, for one, expressed mixed feelings about the prospect of the fellow unions potentially following in the writers’ footsteps. “My hope is that DGA and SAG-AFTRA won’t have to strike because we are,” she said. “It would be amazing if it came to it, if the only way we’re gonna win is doing it together. That we just truly shut it all down.”
Goodman was present at Wednesday’s event and had similarly nice things to say for fellow unions showing up. “I think it’s very clear that their membership and their leadership all recognize that our fight is their fight, that we’re at the tip of the spear and that we’re all facing an existential crisis in this business,” he said. “We need to work together, and we are. It’s very gratifying for the first time to see that kind of unity in a Writers Guild fight.”
Publicly, WGA and DGA leadership haven’t always shared the warmest or fuzziest of rapports, but this timing is seen as an opportunity by many. Goodman, however, rebuffed any speculation about other strikes.
“What I do know is that their membership wants change — the DGA, SAG-AFTRA and [what we saw from] IATSE last year,” he said. “I have no way of knowing what SAG-AFTRA and DGA will or can do, but I do know that their members are hurting and they want change. I’m so thrilled that we had [DGA negotiating committee chair] Jon Avnet speak at our rally. It mattered so much to me and our membership. Whatever is in the past is in the past.”
Thursday marked the first full day of picketing in Los Angeles, as Tuesday’s got a late start for organizational purposes and Wednesday’s ended in time for WGA members to attend the Shrine rally. Yellowjackets co-creator and co-showrunner Bart Nickerson, who was unable to attend the rally, spoke with THR outside Warner Bros. on Thursday about his decision to stay on the line. And his words seemed to articulate what so many on the line claim to feel without getting bogged down in the often wonky deal points.
“Over the last ten years, it seems like the position the writer holds, in terms of compensation and respect within the industry, is eroding,” said Nickerson, echoing comments he made to THR in March. “It’s reached a turning point, and something has to be done.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
