Updates: WGA Strike
Every day during the strike, I will post a relevant article here.
Every day during the strike, I will post a relevant article here.
I have been a card carrying Writers Guild of America member since 1987. Within a year, I was picketing studios during the 1988 strike. It lasted 153 days. When I sold my spec script K-9, I purchased a house in Laurel Canyon with two other writers. In order to survive that strike, I had to sell my investment in the house. Eventually, that work stoppage settled and we were back to work.
Every three years, there were rumors of potential strikes, but the next one didn’t occur until 2007. That one lasted 100 days.
Now Hollywood writers are on strike again. Only this one feels existential. Quite literally, it seems like the AMPTP seem hell bent on destroying any semblance of what used to be a writing career in Hollywood.
I teach at a film school in Chicago now. My income isn’t derived from the studios, networks, or streaming services. While there’s plenty of production in Chicago and I am joining fellow writers in picketing here, that’s not enough.
I’m committed to posting one article per day at Go Into The Story throughout the duration of this strike. I will feature news, updates, op-ed pieces, and resources to support my fellow writers in taking on this insane attempt by the AMPTP to break the Guild and eviscerate the role of writers in the film and television business.
If you’re a Guild member, I’ll do what little I can to promote our cause through social media.
If you’re not yet a Guild member, you should track these articles to educate yourself about why this strike is essential to your future.
If you have no interest in writing, but are concerned about what is going on in Hollywood, what you will get here is unambiguous support for writers versus the greed-heads on the other side of the desk.
I have a theological background. When I was in graduate school at Yale, my specific area of focus was primitive Christianity and the emergence of the New Testament. Here is the harsh truth from 1 Timothy 6:10:
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Hollywood “suits” have always been about profits. I have no problem with that. But once the streaming services came along, it’s like the suits have gone mad. I can’t help but think that it is their love of money which has led them astray and created so “many sorrows.”
What’s happening in Hollywood is an extension of what’s occurring around the world with corporations acting like drug addicts who need a fix. is More … more … more. And that more is money.
In Hollywood, it is especially egregious because the suits are quite literally not only only making billions off the creative effort of writers, they are at the same time trying to break our backs.
Do they think that generative artificial intelligence can replace human writers? If they do, watch out. You’re next. Directors. Actors. Development executives. If left unchecked, their insane pursuit of greater profits will destroy the film and television business as we know it.
Here is just one example of the inhumanity of the AMPTP’s position:
Read this article. Let the words of these writers on the picket line settle in. Compare their struggles in contrast to these guys:
The love of money at its most obscene level.
I can’t do much, but can post something every day during the strike in support of my fellow writers and the Writers Guild of America.
If you come across any articles you feel may be of benefit in promoting the cause of working writers during this trying time, send them my way via email (GITSblog at gmail dot com) or in response to this article.
Articles
Week 1
Hollywood Tales: “Movies are not about elements. They’re about stories. The script is everything.”
Words (Video): “I think it’s time to renew our romance with the word.”
Writers Strike Dos and Don’ts for Pre-WGA Writers: “The main and most important thing is to not work for, or have contact with, signatory companies — the companies we’re striking against.”
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 1): Screenwriters Billy Ray and producer Todd Garner introduce a new podcast about the writers strike.
Week 2
George R.R. Martin weighs in on the Writers Guild: “Mini-rooms are abominations.”
Why AI Is the Most Important Issue in the Writers’ Strike: “Artificial intelligence isn’t just central to the WGA strike either — it’s the first battle in a much larger war that will affect all Americans.”
“Things We Lost In The Stream”: Longtime TV writers Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina on how the business of television has changed.
QA with screenwriter Billy Ray: “I can live with corporate greed. We’re fighting extinction.”
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 2): Billy Ray and Todd Garner talk about the writers strike with longtime TV writer-producer John Wells.
Week 3
Love on the Picket Lines: “Writers are aiming for real-life rom-coms while on strike as mixers and matchmakers join the fray.”
WGA Strike: Chicago: Hundreds of writers, supporters, and union leaders picketed outside the NBC Tower in the Loop.
Video: Writers From ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ Speak Out on the Writers’ Strike.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 3): An M.I.T. expert on A.I talks with Billy Ray and Todd Garner. The artificial intelligence threat to writers is real!
Interview (Vanity Fair): Hollywood Teamster Boss Lindsay Dougherty — Meet the Writers Strike’s Secret Weapon.
Week 4
First Person Essay (The Cut): “I’m a TV Writer on Food Stamps.”
Deadline: 30 Rock Protest Draws Big Names & Huge Crowds In NYC.
L.A. Times: Inside the writers’ ‘guerrilla tactics’ to shut down live productions.
ScreenCrush: MCU In Trouble — WGA Writer’s Strike EXPLAINED.
Defector: The Writers Are Striking For The Future Of Entertainment.
Week 5
WGA West: Picket Astrology: What’s Your Sign?
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 4): Featured guest Bill Mechanic, Oscar-nominated producer and chairman/CEO of Pandemonium.
L.A. Times: Media and Entertainment Company Executive Compensation.
Hollywood Reporter: Writers’ Shut-It-Down Strategy Has Been Effective.
Anonymous Strike Diary: ‘The Eastside Warrior’ on the “Killer Robot Elephant in the Room.”
WGA Strike Update: Where We Are and Where We’re Going.
WGA: The AMPTP Playbook Won’t Work.
Week 6
Reactions: DGA-AMPTP deal.
Deadline: SAG-AFTRA Members Approve Strike Authorization.
Deadline: TV Shows Affected By WGA Strike.
Vox: How streaming caused the TV writers strike.
Vulture: TV’s Streaming Model Is Broken. It’s Also Not Going Away.
Deadline: Black List Suspends Studio Memberships.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 5): Featured guests, film producers Julie Lynn & Bonnie Curtis.
Week 7
The Town: What the Writers Really Fear About AI in Hollywood.
5AM StoryTalk: How the WGA Is Trying to Save Feature Screenwriters.
WGA: International Day of Solidarity.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 6): Featured guests U.S. Reps. Ro Khanna and Becca Balint on how the work stoppage is projecting in Washington.
WGA: International Day of Solidarity (photos).
StrikeGeist: Meet The Strippers Union Backing the Writers Strike.
Los Angeles Times: How Consumers and Creators Soured on Streaming.
Week 8
WGA: Why We Strike.
AllYourScreens: An Apple TV+ Executive Talks Streaming, the Strike & Global Television.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 7): Billy Ray talks with AI, specifically CHATGPT4, designed — by its own admission — to “replace screenwriters.”
THR: 5,000-Plus Demonstrators Rally In L.A. to Support Writers Strike.
THR: A Therapist Shares Mental Health Tips for Striking Writers.
L.A. Times: Scripted TV production has virtually stopped in L.A.
Scott Gairdner: “Growin’ Up Zas”.
Week 9
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 8): Featured guests are Franklin Leonard and three members of the WGA negotiating committee.
StrikeGeist: All Eyes on Actors as SAG-AFTRA Deal Deadline Looms.
Rolling Stone: A-List Actors Threaten to Strike in Letter to SAG.
Los Angeles Times: Netflix turns to South Korean writers and crews as Hollywood strikes.
Deadline: SAG-AFTRA “Prepared To Strike” Letter Hits 1,000 Signatures.
The Ankler: Peak Hustle on the Picket Line.
Deadline: SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP Extend Contract To July 12.
Week 10
Deadline: L.A. City Council Approves Resolution Supporting WGA Strike.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 9): Featured guest Lindsay Dougherty, leader of the Hollywood Teamsters.
Puck: Inside the Actors’ Strategy.
The Black List: New Podcast, “Word by Word”.
CNBC: How AI Took Center Stage In The Hollywood Writers’ Strike.
StrikeGeist: SAG-AFTRA, Studios Still ‘Far Apart’ On Key Issues as Clock Ticks Down.
The Hollywood Reporter: Writers’ Unexpected Solace During the Strike: Themed Pickets.
Week 11
Variety: ‘Barbie’ Co-Writer Noah Baumbach Skips World Premiere over WGA Strike.
Los Angeles Times: Hollywood studios could face two strikes for the first time in 63 years.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 10): Billy Ray talks with four showrunners about the current state of the television business.
The Wrap: Actors Guild Set to Join Writers for Hollywood’s First Double Strike in More Than 60 Years.
Go Into The Story: Disney CEO Bob Iger opens mouth. Inserts foot.
IMDb: Wall Street reacts to SAG-AFTRA joining WGA strike.
The Daily Beast: Cartoonishly Evil Hollywood Execs Never Miss an Opportunity for Bad PR.
Week 12
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 11): Billy talks with experts about how AMPTP members have different agendas making negotiations problematic.
Deadline: SAG-AFTRA And WGA Fears About AI Are Warranted.
Los Angeles Times: The studios thought they could handle a strike…
Deadline: Where Are My Residuals?
The Guardian: The Hollywood strike can and must win — for all of us, not just writers and actors.
Los Angeles Times: Hollywood is on strike because CEOs fell for Silicon Valley’s magical thinking.
Los Angeles Times: Hollywood was built on the work of underappreciated writers.
Week 13
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 12): Billy Ray talks with four SAG-AFTRA members about how the acting life has become financially untenable.
The Ankler: ‘Idiots’ — Wall Street Analysts Unload on Hollywood.
Los Angeles Times: The ‘Barbenheimer’ effect should scare the studios into ending the strike.
WGA: 17-minute video update from Negotiating Committee Co-Chair Chris Keyser.
The Column: “AI” Hype as Pretext for Labor Misclassification.
The Hollywood Reporter: Studios, Theaters Brace for Tentpole Havoc If Strikes Linger Into Fall.
Vanity Fair: Hollywood Actors and Writers vs. the Studios: 1933 vs. 2023.
Week 14
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 13): Billy Ray has a “conversation” with AI in which AI uses the voices of famous actors in the “chat.”
New Yorker: Hollywood’s Slo-Mo Self-Sabotage.
Deadline: WGA & AMPTP Seek Path Back Toward Negotiating Table.
Los Angeles Times: Hollywood is in the midst of an AI hiring boom.
Los Angeles Times: Poll: More Americans support striking actors and writers than studios.
Defector: “If we tear this thing down to the studs…”
Los Angeles Times: WGA and studio reps meet, but no signs of strike ending.
Week 15
Deadline’s Strike Talk Podcast (Episode 14): Billy Ray talks with Craig Mazin, Lilly Wachowski & Jason Blum On Hollywood’s post-strike path forward.
The Ankler: Death Spiral of Hollywood Monopolies.
The Guardian: The Hollywood Strike Drags on Because of One Stumbling Block: Studio Greed.
Go Into The Story: The WGA Strike: Day 100.
Deadline: WGA & AMPTP To Resume Bargaining.
WGA: Negotiations Update 8–11–23.
Los Angeles Times: How writers’, SAG strikes inspired global worker solidarity.
Week 16
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 15): Billy Ray and Todd Garner talk with the creator of an “ethical A.I.” program.
The Hollywood Reporter: Robert Reich on the Hollywood Strikes, Tech “Leviathans” and a Second Gilded Age.
Variety: WGA Response to Studios Indicates No Quick End to Strike.
Go Into The Story: Want to see an example of AMPTP psyops in the trades?
Variety: Disney, Amazon, and Netflix Are the ‘New Gatekeepers’ of Media.
Data for Progress: A Majority of Voters Support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes.
Vanity Fair: Bob Iger, Ted Sarandos, and David Zaslav’s Bad-PR Summer.
Week 17
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 16): Billy Ray in conversation with long-time producers Gale Anne Hurd and Glen Basner.
The Hollywood Reporter: Hollywood Therapists See Mental Health Effects of Dual Strikes.
The Hollywood Reporter: Why Protecting the Writers Room Is Good for Studios’ Bottom Line.
StrikeGeist: The Great Backfiring: Did This Move Just Add Weeks to the Strike?
Defector: The Hollywood Strike Forces A Reckoning For The Trades.
The Hollywood Reporter: AMPTP Hires New Crisis PR Firm.
Go Into The Story: Another AMPTP PR Debacle.
Week 18
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 17): Billy Ray in conversation with two longtime labor leaders.
Variety: Netflix Agrees to Pay Royalties to Creators of German Series.
Los Angeles Times: Fallout from Hollywood labor unrest deepens as strikes drag on.
Deadline: Studio CEOs Set To Meet Amid Internal Tensions.
Los Angeles Times: Hollywood studios have already lost the strikes. Now it’s time to surrender.
The Hollywood Reporter: Barry Diller: Studios Should Cut Their Own Deals With Guilds.
Los Angeles Times: California Treasurer calls on studios to end writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Week 19
/film: A Free Zoom Series Teaches The Finer Points Of Screenwriting… and supports striking writers!
WGA: “This Labor Day, We Are All In This Together”.
Charles Dewey: Writer Strike + Actor Strike + Andor = One Way Out!
Daily Kos: Hot union summer is ending, but the fight for worker power isn’t going anywhere.
TheWrap: Why Mini-Rooms Are a Problem.
WGA: Update: WGA Negotiating Committee.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 18): Billy Ray in conversation with movie producer Jennifer Fox.
Week 20
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 19): Billy Ray in conversation with Rep. Susan Wild and Sen. Sherrod Brown.
StrikeGeist: Drew Brouhaha: Barrymore Talk Show Restarts Amid Strike.
Deadline: Showrunners Set Meeting With WGA Leadership.
Los Angeles Times: “This is exactly how strikes are broken.”
New York Times: Do Studios Dream of Android Stars?
The Hollywood Reporter: Unmasking the AMPTP: Hollywood Labor’s Opaque Nemesis.
Deadline’s Strike Talk (Episode 20): Billy Ray in conversation with a vet TV exec and entertainment columnist about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Week 21
Los Angeles Times: Why the war over streaming data is at the heart of Hollywood’s strikes.
Deadline: WGA Showrunners’ Strike Fund Donations Near $500K.
Los Angeles Times: Thanks to Drew Barrymore, striking writers are in their most powerful position yet.
Los Angeles Times: With free screenwriting workshops, striking Hollywood writers look to raise spirits and funds.
Vanity Fair: Can New Talks End the Writers Strike Fast? Optimism, the Sequel!
The Hollywood Reporter: Writers Guild Negotiations Conclude Friday Without Deal.
Deadline: WGA Reviewing Deal That Studios Call Their “Best & Final Offer.”
Week 22
Deadline: WGA & AMPTP Reach Tentative Agreement To End Writers Strike.
Los Angeles Times: WGA deal brings tears of joy to Hollywood writers… and relief to a city scarred by strikes.
WGA: THE WRITERS’ STRIKE IS OVER!
Los Angeles Times: False starts, secret talks: Insiders tell how the writers’ strike ended with ‘Let’s make a deal’.
WGA: 148 Days Stronger. And we won!
Deadline: Billy Ray in conversation with WGA execs to discuss the Guild’s deal with the AMPTP(S).
Vulture: How the WGA Won Historic Contract.
Resources
The Hollywood Reporter: Strike Diary
Social Media
#WGAstrong, #WritersGuildofAmerica, #writersguildstrike
Twitter: @WGAWest, @WGAEast, @WGAstrike.