Sunday Roundup: Zaslav Faces 'Pay Your Writers' Chant at B.U.

➕ the week's strike news from The Ankler

(@AWoleful/Twitter)

A few days ago, I mentioned that the executive side of town was feeling surprise and a little nervous over the unexpected allegiance with writers by even non-Hollywood labor groups (in Chicago, the teachers union joined in; in New York, groups from CUNY and other orgs hit WGA picket lines in solidarity). Understandably, this has driven worry that that the momentum could portend an even longer walkout.

In another sign of the different times from 2007-08, WBD CEO David Zaslav was commencement speaker at Boston University today, where support burst well beyond the Hollywood bubble. Chants of, “Say it loud, say it proud, Boston is a union town” were mounted outside the graduation, with heavy representation from local unions.

Here are three tweets that sum up what happened — and point to possible acceleration for the writers’ cause, at least in the court of public opinion:

AMPTP, next move seems to be yours…

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Meanwhile, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss some great stuff going on over at my other day job at The Ankler (and one bonus from Matt Stoller on Strikegeist)…

• Finding Love on the Picket Lines What's an unemployed TV comedy scribe to do but to try to date fellow writers? Our pseudonymous writer Kit Sargent has a brilliant take with lotsa spot-on LOLs.

• 🎧 Hollywood's Disappearing ATM Machine Cable TV was the golden goose that bankrolled streaming. What went wrong so fast and its role in the writers' revolt (transcript here)

• 🎧 How Much Free Work Do Writers Do to Get Paid Work? Sonny Bunch is joined by Colby Day, screenwriter of In the Blink of an Eye and Netflix’s upcoming Spaceman, starring Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan, to discuss all the unpaid labor that goes into getting a check from studios and streamers (read the full transcript here).

• Richard Rushfield: 8 Faultlines for a Long, Hot Summer Who gets stabbed in the back as conflicts engulf more than writers?

• How Hollywood 'Killed its Own Golden Goose': a #MediaNerd Special Sean McNulty’s epic look at the disappearing financial backend of our major studios — their cable and linear TV divisions— and what it means for the streaming growth it supports is essential reading for every executive (and well, writer too).

• Time to Break Up Hollywood Hollywood is trapped in a death spiral, says Matt Stoller, with streaming giants struggling to profit while smothering the industry — all while serving as the tinder for the town’s largest labor movement in decades: “Far from a narrow conflict over money, this fight is existential, a question of whether America can be a place where stars are born and movies are made.”

I’ll see you out on the picket lines and back here tomorrow. Remember to send me tips and comments at elaine@theankler.com.