WGA Strike

Most of us spend our time relaxing watching TV or movies. I mean I’ve built my whole internet presence off of reviewing, critiquing and analyzing media. Our current society thrives off of Hollywood. Comic cons, show specific fan conventions, tv shows, and movies very few people in this country go a day without relying on Hollywood for relaxation and entertainment. But how does that entertainment come to us? Does it magically appear on our screens? Do producers and studio execs come up with these stories that we love? No writers do. Writers are the backbone of Hollywood and we owe them our praise, and Hollywood owes them proper compensation.

The WGA went on strike this past week and several projects have already stopped production (yay!) because even with a completed script you can not make a show without writers. Other industry professionals have stood in solidarity with the WGA even though they can not “sympathy strike”, they can however choose not to cross a picket line. Evil and Stranger Things have shut down production. House of the Dragon and Rings of Power have chosen to screw over their writers and continue through the strike. Looks like i’ll be pirating those when their seasons are done.

The average writer makes $50K a year, and most jobs are still in person, in LA, one of the most expensive cities in the country. These are not living wages. Not only that but there is no industry without writers. Without writers these CEO’s have nothing, writers SHOULD be the best paid positions in Hollywood. They should be upsettingly rich, they should not be worried about residuals and relying on them to feed themselves. And yet they are barely being paid enough to pay rent where they have to live in order to work.

HBO’s CEO, David Zaslav commented on the strike, saying out of his big dumb face that “the love of the job will end the strike”. The most heartbreaking part about this is that screenwriting is a dream job, it's my dream job. And these people that are on strike have made it to some degree. They are in the WGA, they’ve actively worked in the industry. They’ve reached the level of success that those of us still submitting to screenwriting contests dream about and they can’t feed themselves. Writers are arguably one of the only jobs left in Hollywood where it is truly about the art and the storytelling. And just because it's not about money doesn’t mean you can exploit the love people have for this job. The major production companies are unwilling to even entertain the WGA’s demands. They’ve been in negotiations for months, and the companies won’t even counter. It’s hard to reach an agreement when no one up top is even willing to have a conversation.

The WGA is fighting for their rights as well as the rights of those of us still dreaming. I stand with the WGA. Do not watch any heartless CEO produced content made and released during this strike. Do not cross any picket lines, your Paramount tour and trip to Universal are not more important than people’s livelihoods. There are 10,000 other things to do in LA. Figure something else out. If and when the WGA asks for a complete boycott, you will cancel your subscriptions and go back to watching DVDs. Your immediate need for entertainment is also not more important than people’s livelihoods. Think of it this way you won’t ever get new, quality content unless you support these writers now. They deserve better, the entire industry does. Animation writers make even less money because they are seen as less important. This needs to start an avalanche, EVERY section of the industry needs to change. The people sitting in their offices approving projects based on what they think will make the most money should not be making more money than the people actually putting in the work to create art. Stand with the WGA.