WGA Showrunners’ Strike Fund Donations Near $500K

“Cutting to t|he heart of the sentiment out on the picket lines, Wachowski added, ‘Let’s beat these f-ing mf-ers!’”

From Deadline:

As the WGA, studios and streamers prepare to restart negotiations later this week, hundreds of united showrunners are on the verge of making a major donation to help those hit hard by the ongoing strikes.

Launching off an initial $200,000 culled from a group of veteran showrunners, around 250 showrunners have contributed more than $260,000 more as of Monday afternoon, bringing the total up to near $500,000 to date.

The money, from mainly anonymous donors, will go to the Entertainment Community Fund.

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In some ways, refuting recent rumors that there was serious dissent among some top showrunners with the way the WGA Negotiating Committee was handing things, the donation effort has made a point of stressing unity from the jump.

“We comprise a vast, diverse group of writers with a vast, diverse way of approaching the strike, but the one place we are truly united is in our shared empathy for those currently suffering — this is a way for us all to come together and demonstrate that collective empathy,” the group states on their donation page. “It doesn’t matter if you donate five bucks or five hundred, this is a show of care and support from ALL of us.”

I just checked the Showrunning Fundraising Match page and they are currently at 108% of their $260K target (now at $281,550).

In my 36 years of membership, I’ve never seen the Guild more united than during this strike. It’s an incredibly powerful expression of kinship between writers of all stripes.

I believe this effort will all pay off. I really do.

Hopefully beginning with negotiations which are scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

For the rest of the Deadline article, go here.