Writers Strike Dos and Don’ts for Pre-WGA Writers

As explained by a member of the Writers Guild of America.

If you’re a WGA member, you can check out the 2023 strike rules here. But what if you are pre-WGA. What are the do’s and don’ts?

Moviemaker conducted an interview with screenwriter Christopher Kyle, the secretary-treasurer of the WGA-East, and asked him several key questions about what aspiring Guild writers should be cognizant about in terms of what they can and can’t do during the strike. Here is an excerpt from that interview.

MovieMaker: We’ve been scanning Twitter and Reddit and lots of other places, and there are a lot of questions from pre-WGA writers about how to conduct themselves. They don’t want to accidentally scab or cross the picket line unintentionally. So I wanted to share some of the questions I’m seeing.

Christopher Kyle: The main and most important thing is to not work for, or have contact with, signatory companies — the companies we’re striking against. That means don’t take a job writing on a film or TV show that’s covered by our contract. Don’t have meetings with executives from companies. Don’t option a script that you wrote on spec to a company — anything like that. Those are the kinds of things that are strictly prohibited. And if someone did those things, then it would be unlikely they would ever become a member of our guild.

MovieMaker: You said “meetings” — that includes any meeting with a representative of a signatory in which you even talk hypothetically about a project?

Christopher Kyle: Even if it’s just a general meeting, like a “getting to know you,” not talking about a specific project. The spirit of the strike is that we’re trying to shut down the industry, and anything that can keep the wheels turning is something that is not helping us. So all our members, and anyone aspiring to be a member, should not be meeting with those companies right now.

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MovieMaker: Can writers post screenplays on sites like The Black List or Coverfly? I’ve seen some writers who are not WGA saying they’re not even posting scripts that they wrote prior to the strike.

Christopher Kyle: We actually were in conversation with Franklin Leonard at The Black List, and I believe he sent an email to everybody who has an account telling them what the rules were. [Editor’s Note: He did.] The basic idea is that they don’t have to take their scripts down from those platforms. But they cannot sell a script or option a script, and they can’t take a meeting that comes because somebody read their script on the platform. But they don’t have to pull their scripts down.

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MovieMaker: Can a pre-WGA writer sign with an agent or a manager during the writers strike?

Christopher Kyle: Yes. They can sign with an agent or manager, but they have to make it very clear to that representative that they can’t do anything with their work: They can’t set up meetings, they can’t send out the scripts. So you can sign with an agent, but then an agent can’t really do anything for you until after the strike.

And you want to be really clear with that agent, so that they understand that they can’t start to market you with your work and set up meetings, because if they do, then they have put you across the strike rules.

Read the rest of the article to learn what potential Guild members should be aware of in how they conduct themselves during the strike.

The most important thing to remember is this: You can still write during the strike. As long as it’s you on your own, you’re writing it on spec, and you don’t try to sell it.