In this house, we support the writers guild.
You know, I started a different version of this post several weeks ago, when the Writers Guild of America started their strike in defense of the writers of Hollywood (which has, as of last week, passed the 100-day mark, for whatever that’s worth). This was going to be a post expressing solidarity with writers — we should be paid for our work! And folks who write for big-name streaming services and entertainment properties should be able to pay their rent.
Then, SAG-AFTRA joined the fray, stirring some more of the same sentiment from throughout the same circles — but also giving some greater visibility of the union efforts to audiences outside of the entertainment space. After all, actors are by virtue of their work a little more visible than writers to people outside the industry.
(I follow Adam Conover on various social media platforms because I generally believe that he thinks deeply and critically about issues across a range of topics, and I think he is a good follow for more information about the WGA and the general union efforts being worked on right now. )
In short, these organizations (and the laborers they represent) are striking to negotiate for better working hours, better pay, better treatment by the huge corporations making money off of people’s creative work and, in the case of actors, faces and voices. These companies are profiting off the labor of underpaid, overworked, overtired people — and they’re unapologetic about it. The coverage of the strike is everywhere, and I don’t want to reinvent any wheels (truly, check out Adam’s content if you want more in-depth analysis of the combined WGA-SAG strike and all the mechanisms of the companies that are trying to fight it), but this post by actor Scott Turner Schofield reeeeaaalllly put it in stark perspective for me.
It isn’t about huge-name actors (like certain Arrow stars, *cough*, although said Arrow star did admit that he spoke out of turn several weeks ago about not being supportive of the strike) and it isn’t about “entitlement.” It’s literally about people who are working toward their dreams (being a writer! being an actor! the biz!) making enough money to eat, pay for health care, and pay rent. Companies are making the big bucks off of these actors’ and writers’ labor; the fucking least they can do is pay them. And it is important for the bigger names to participate and show solidarity with their lesser-known siblings. Actor Joseph Kibler made a great video about this concept last week.
As of posting this, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have offered striking writers a deal that was met with a bit of derision on the part of the latter — in other words, the AMPTP isn’t even close to meeting the writers’ needs.
Anyway, this is my (kind of short) rant about the strike and how we are still supporting the WGA and SAG in this house. For more information, check out the constantly-updated Wikipedia page about the strike.
How can we help?
One thing I have been kind of confused about — what can I do to help? What support do the picketers need? I am not a famous influencer; I have a modest following across my platforms. I’m also not a member of the WGA. How can I show up for these people I feel somewhat of a kinship with even without a huge platform?
Gizmodo published this informative article several weeks ago with some options for helping. These options include:
- Donate to the Entertainment Community Fund for both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
- Join picket lines (if you’re local to Los Angeles) and donate food and water for the picketers.
- You can also still consume media. The strikers are not calling for a boycott of any media. (I did use this opportunity to cancel my Netflix account, but that’s mostly because I didn’t want to pay for it anymore and now seemed like as good a time as any, with the added bonus of putting “Fucking pay your writers” in the “Why did you cancel” box.)
Spreading information and resources about the strike is something I can do — and that’s why you’re reading this post. I felt like I had to say something.
Also… Alex and I are working on an episode of Literally 2 Cents about artificial intelligence that I think will be pretty relevant. Stay tuned.
Liz Cultivates | L.M. Fern 
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