WGA Strike: Love on the Picket Lines
“Writers are aiming for real-life rom-coms while on strike as mixers and matchmakers join the fray.”
“Writers are aiming for real-life rom-coms while on strike as mixers and matchmakers join the fray.”
Part of TheAnkler.com news platforms, Strikegeist focuses on the current WGA work stoppage. Recently they featured the article “Love on the Picket Lines.” Here is an excerpt:
Organized labor is serious business, but picket lines can be convivial places — especially ones populated by witty TV and movie scribes. So, some writers thought, why not make a few meet-cutes happen off the page while the WGA strike is in full swing?
At Roadside Taco on Wednesday night, two blocks from the Universal Studios lot, at least 200 writers and strike supporters turned out to decompress from a day of picketing and maybe meet a match, thanks to a singles mixer spearheaded by several writers in tandem with LJMatchmaking, an entertainment industry-focused service founded by TV writer Jaydi Samuels Kuba.
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The idea sprung from a conversation Samuels Kuba had with Lopez vs Lopez showrunner Debby Wolfe and writer Marcos Luevanos. Along with Lauren Rosenberg, they decided to host a mixer in Week Two of the strike.
“We’re already out picketing anyway, and it’s something we already have in common with each other, so what better icebreaker than the strike to get to know someone, start talking to someone, maybe have a romance come out of it,” said Luevanos over the din of music and chatter on the patio.
Here are a few videos from the event:
The strike promises to be a long slog. Writers will need to lean into their creativity to come up with ways to uplift spirits like this mixer.
In solidarity with the WGA, every day during the strike, I will feature an article on the work stoppage.
Resources to follow the strike:
The Hollywood Reporter: Strike Diary
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.
#WGAstrong
Twitter: @WGAWest, @WGAEast, @WGAstrike.