Daily Digest: 'The AMPTP has declared war on Hollywood labor'
'And it is a war they are going to get,' says Hollywood Teamsters boss at a thousands-strong WGA rally
Lest there be any concern that the writers’ resolve is weakening on Day 51, the multi-union “WGA Strong” rally on Wednesday set out to amp up the troops and send a message to Hollywood’s studios and entertainment conglomerates: We’re not backing down, and we’ve got all of the town’s labor groups behind us.
What looked like at least a thousand at the La Brea Tar Pits by noon began as a morning march from Pan Pacific Park in the Fairfax neighborhood. Emceed by vocal WGA negotiating committee member and Adam Ruins Everything creator Adam Conover, the lineup boasted a series of speakers from across the industry’s labor groups, including SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America, IATSE, Teamsters (chanting “Who are we? Teamsters!” every time they were brought up), LiUNA! (Laborers’ International Union of North America) and the American Federation of Musicians.
“Contrary to the public perception, the majority of Hollywood writers have historically been middle class. But when streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Apple came into our industry, the studios exploited the changing landscapes of our business to increase their profits at the expense of our livelihoods,” said WGA West board member and TV writer Liz Alper. “We are made to write at a breakneck, unsustainable pace, with our pay held hostage for multiple free rewrites, so our employers can pay us as little as possible for the very work that will make them record-breaking profits.”
She acknowledged the financial hardship that the production stoppages have caused the crews and below-the-line workers in town — a component of the optics wars that have been batted around lately, as studios point to writers as the culprit for lost wages and writers blame the AMPTP for its prolonged absence from the negotiating table as it cuts deals with the DGA and now SAG. (Alper noted the Entertainment Community Fund provides assistance to the financially strapped during the strike.)
Behind closed doors, some studio execs — particularly those who are creative collaborators — sympathize with the scribes’ scrap, while others whisper about the supposed narcissism of the writers and worry about future unionizing.
“You all saw that anonymous Apple exec saying that this fight, for them, is about trying to make sure other people don't want to fight. The whole world is looking at us and we can't let them down,” said I’m a Virgo creator Boots Riley.
“It's more than just about money. We want a different world. We want a world where we control the wealth that's created by our labor,” he added. “And that's gonna take the kind of movement that's building now.”
Perhaps reflective of other non-Hollywood labor sentiment, Wall Street and Silicon Valley came under particular scrutiny among the speakers, with the language of wealth distribution taking center stage.
“We're all writers today. And we're all actors. We're all directors. And we're all grips. And we’re all IA. And we're all musicians. We're all in it together. Because if they can't divide us, they can't defeat us,” said IATSE International VP Mike Miller, adding that collective bargaining “should be about sharing the wealth that we create.”
IATSE is “going to continue to stand with the writers and the directors and the actors and the basic crafts and the Teamsters,” he said.
Alex Aguilar, the business manager of LiUNA! Local 724, which reps studio utility employees, repeated what he said at the rally at The Shrine auditorium during the first week of the strike: “You don't only have us here, [you have] 550,000 members of Liuna across the country who support you and stand with you in this fight.”
Addressing the writers, he added, “Not only are you doing it to make a difference for you, but what you guys are doing is impacting generations of future writers, laborers, plasters, Teamsters, actors, directors to come. So you’re making a difference in everyone’s lives, not just your own.”
Even with the DGA deal put to bed, directors came out in support of the WGA Strong rally, urging the AMPTP to reopen talks with the writers.
Writers’ talents are “a fucking gift, and often a cash cow to the companies that were lucky enough to produce their works,” said director and former DGA pres Thomas Schlamme on stage. “Which is why those same companies — after SAG has hopefully wrestled them to the ground and gotten what they deserve — should get off their asses and get back in the room with the WGA.”
The rally closed out with another fiery speech from Hollywood Teamsters boss Lindsay Dougherty, who — standing outside the La Brea Tar Pits, home to many a fossil — said the AMPTP should be made “fucking extinct.”
“The AMPTP has declared war on Hollywood labor, and it is a war they are going to get, I promise you,” she said to cheers from the crowd. “You guys are on the right side of history. I can’t commend you enough for holding down as long as you have. They are surprised by your diligence and your militance…These companies, they’ve been fucking around, but they haven’t found out quite yet. But they will.”
Today in Strike News
Between the strike and star Bad Bunny’s demanding tour schedule, Spider-Man spinoff movie El Muerto has been removed from its early 2024 release date. (Deadline)
SNL creator and chief Lorne Michaels commented on the strike while speaking at Cannes Lions Festival, saying “I’ve been in the [Writers] Guild since 1968, so I’ve seen a fair amount of this. I’m obviously a supporter, and I hope it gets resolved. But that decision will get made, probably, on the West Coast. I’m behind it, and would like it to be over before our [next] season.” (Deadline)
Though some Los Angeles restaurants that rely on catering and industry events are seeing declines as high as 40%, many of the establishments still support the strike and offer discounts to WGA members. “A lot of our business is writers,” Evan Fox, owner of Yeastie Boys bagel trucks, said. “A lot of our business is people that work in the industry because this entire town is built on that, so it’s like, ‘All right, well, if that goes away, what does that look like?‘” (Los Angeles Times)
An opening credits sequence entirely generated by AI was featured in Marvel’s new series Secret Invasion, leaving many in the industry irked about its timing and its usage. “This is salt in the wounds of all Artists and Writers in the WGA strike,” Jon Lam, a storyboard artist, wrote on Twitter. (Deadline)
A spokesperson for Ryan Murphy denied WGA East strike captain Warren Leight’s accusations today that crew members on his series American Horror Story were told they’d “be black-balled in Murphy-land” if they respect writers’ strike lines. (The Wrap)
The Emmys could be looking at a January date instead of its normal September slot if the strike lasts through early August. (The New York Times)
Picket Sign of the Day
Old school. Spotted at the WGA Strong rally today.
« ....breakneck, unsustainable pace, with our pay held hostage ... so our employers can pay us as little as possible for the very work that will make them record-breaking profits.”
This is what prioritizing shareholders at the expense of labor has done across health care, pharmacies, customer service, etc etc. Very few industries haven’t been impacted.
The only difference is that the entertainment industry is unionized.
I wonder why the strike isn’t well covered by PE-owned News media?
Standing up for yourself against people exploiting you isn’t narcissism. It’s self-respect. Of course one must have a minimal level of self esteem to know what you’re worth and be willing to stand up for it. But that’s not narcissism as it’s being used here.
This is the common co-opting of psychological terms into pop psychology without understanding the words you’re using. I write that as someone w actual expertise in this area.