Daily Digest: Spectators Start to Take Sides
Sending an ice cream truck is one way; helping shut down production is another
Hollywood talent agencies have entered the chat. As Week Two of the writers’ strike kicks off, APA very publicly supported its literary clients on Monday by sending a pair of ice cream trucks to Netflix and Disney, pumping the picketers full of sugar to keep their spirits up.
As I mentioned in our first Strikegeist daily digest on Sunday, some production shingles — no doubt unwilling to tee off the studios with which they are aligned — have been doing anonymous doughnut drop-offs to picketing writers. But when I stopped by Netflix this afternoon, spotting the likes of Adam Ruins Everything host Adam Conover and Rutherford Falls co-creator Sierra Teller Ornelas (interviews below), I learned that some two dozen people from APA were hanging out at the picket lines by Sunset Bronson. (Dessert-happy writers take note: the agency will continue to send ice cream trucks to various picket lines throughout the week.)
WME has also apparently been delivering pizzas to picket lines. Not all talent agencies are feeling quite so friendly toward the writers following the 2021 packaging fight, but writers will surely be looking to their reps now to see which ones are willing to send over a slice of pepperoni for the cause — and which will remain mum.
Speaking of mums, several affinity groups organized pickets Monday, including mothers of the WGA (who besieged Netflix), Latinx writers (Universal) and writers with disabilities (Amazon Studios). At Netflix today were Archer, Woke and Platonic writer Brittany Miller with her 5-year-old, and Ornelas with her 6-year-old, explaining why they were striking with their little ones.
Meanwhile, the pressure is on: the list of TV and film productions getting the lights-out treatment is only growing. Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again was the latest show forced to halt production in the wee morning hours Monday as Teamsters and IATSE crews refused to cross the picket line at Silvercup East in Long Island City. The show joins Severance, Evil and Bunk’d on the list of productions that strikers have successfully disrupted.
Game of Thrones co-creator George R.R. Martin explained in a blog post Sunday that the writers’ room on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight “has closed for the duration. Ira Parker and his incredible staff of young talents are on the picket lines.”
Martin, who said he participated in the writers strike in 1988, offered his full-throated support of the WGA and assured fans that he’s still working on his long-awaited sixth Song of Ice and Fire novel, The Winds of Winter, since the strike does not impact book publishing. (Cue the inevitable jokes about Martin not writing…)
Writers are shutting down productions left and right at a quicker clip than some expected, bolstered by Teamsters and other crew who are choosing not to cross picket lines.
“Just in the last week, by picketing productions, we’ve shut down shoots for [Apple TV+ series] Loot and Severance. I don’t know if Apple expected that,” WGA negotiating committee member Conover told me today at the Netflix picket line. “Hopefully that starts some conversations. Maybe Eddy Cue is having to explain to Tim Cook for the first time who [AMPTP negotiator] Carol Lombardini is, why the writers are so mad, and they’re starting to think, ‘Okay, we actually need to address their issues.’ That’s why we’re out here.”
STRIKING A CHORD
We did it, Joe. The WGA appears to have the backing of President Biden, who said he hopes “the writers strike in Hollywood gets resolved, and the writers are given a fair deal that they deserve as soon as possible.” (The Hollywood Reporter)
This strike is going to cost a pretty penny. A three-month-long work stoppage would cost $3 billion to the local economy, according to one Cal State Northridge professor’s estimates. (Los Angeles Times)
And people generally agree: this one’s gonna take a while. (New York Times)
Still, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish told shareholders “we have many levers to pull and that will allow us to manage though a writers’ strike even for an extended duration. And just so you understand, in terms of levers, we have a lot in the can, produced and ready to go.” (Deadline)
Most major studios are suspending overall deals with writers and producers during the strike. (Deadline)
Turns out Hollywood’s Golden Age wasn’t so golden for screenwriters, even if you were Raymond Chandler or F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Los Angeles Times)
PICKET SIGN OF THE DAY
