giant inflatable rat scabies, Icon of workers’ protests in New York revealed in front of the offices Netflix Just north of Union Square, at 888 Broadway. You can hear it at full volume through a portable speaker. Donna Summer He sings “work hard for money” (work hard for your money). Down the sidewalk, going around the block human tide Armed with what they know best how to use, deft banners and shouts: intelligence and word. From where screenwriters.
Specifically, they are members of the East Wing. Writers Guild of AmericaHE Association with 11,500 members on Tuesday to renew his contract after unsuccessful negotiations. Film and Television Producers Association (AMPTP) launched a strike that brought together major studios and platforms, paralyzing not just a good part of Hollywood, but all of it. United States entertainment industry. programs late at night They’ve been here since Tuesday get dark. This stakes They have already started to change the shots that are already in progress.
There is power now. The previous writers’ strike in 2007 and 2008 continued 100 days. This will take a long time, as many fear, and no one would be surprised if it continues, at least until now. end of julywhen forced to renew contracts with studios and platforms actors and directors unions. The union (as union is said in English) creates power.
“No one wants a prolonged strike”
“No one wants a long strike, but we all have a fair contract and the plan is to stay until you get it,” he explained on the New York stage on Wednesday. josh gondelmanHe was a writer for John Oliver and appeared on the Showtime program of comedians Desus & Mero. “Studios can end this today if they want to. All they have to do is offer us a deal that lets writers have it. sustainable career and it gives us only a fraction of the benefits we generate”.
On your requests page 21 offers, part of the “home economy” that goes from updating wages to ensuring minimum number and time of work, improving the “residuals” charged for uninterrupted broadcasts, regulating limits on the use of AI in film and television, or preventing the “überization” of writing and treating it as something else. . But AMPTP had only six responses before the negotiations broke down.
this is a problem Tasha Stewart. “It may seem like we have a lot of requests, but actually they are all very important and they all work together to create a sustainable race.” Eliminate one and the others collapse,” said the screenwriter, who finished writing a miniseries for FX before the strike and also owns the Comedy Central show Larry Wilmore and the Netflix series “Amend: The Fight for America.” directly rejected,” he said.We can’t negotiate with a wall. AND we will not bargain with ourselves”.
Solidarity
Screenwriters trust right now strong participation and many examples solidarity and with the reflexive impulse of the most recognizable names. On Tuesday, when the scouts opened in front of NBC headquarters in New York, there was a heavyweight post. Tony Kushner‘ denounced.insulting and disgusting” “myopia, greed and utter indifference to the lives (studios) of the people who create the content that enriches them.”
On Wednesday, the ‘Sex and the City’ actress and former progressive candidate for governor of New York joined the protest outside Netflix. Cynthia Nixon; actors Michael Rapaport and Zoe Kazan; ‘Saturday Night Live’ comedian Andrew Yangmusicians representatives, students, other unions, Amazon and Starbucks employees… And even California Congressman Ro KhannaIt represents the region that includes Silicon Valley, which many see as a potential replacement on the left. Bernie SandersHe took to Twitter to remind that “eight Hollywood CEOs made $800 million last year, while television writers’ salaries fell 23% in a decade.”
The strike came at a time when the union movement was starting to gain strength again in the United States, which undoubtedly had an ally in the Oval Office at Joe Biden. “People see it’s not just studios against writers,” Gondelman said. “This is part of something bigger. corporate greed towards profit-making workers”.
AI and the threat of creativity
Ilana GlazerThe creator and protagonist of ‘Broad City’ also went through protest, appealed to “dignity” and shifted his critical focus with particular intensity to the death threat. Artificial intelligence. “Creating a formula based on stories told earlier deepens the system of oppression that brought us here to fight,” he said. “What is it to go back and have one? ChatGPT Writing stories based on John Wayne or whatever? We must keep moving forward. This conservatismdirectly related to and global threat of fascism What are we watching?”
These critical references to AI are punctuated by some clever wit. bannerswho has become one of the best representatives of the talent and creativity of screenwriters who miss their work these days. They have nice puns that are hard to translate, for example “do the writing job” or “Wrong vs. Typing,” references that many viewers will recognize as “”This Won’t Be Our End”, “We are not senior”, “Do not pay us crumbs to write” billionsor “I see rich people.” One of the most famous readings: “Spoilers for Fair contract or Succession”. And there’s one more along those lines: “Spoiler alert: we’re going to win.”
These critical references to AI are punctuated by some clever wit. bannerswho has become one of the best representatives of the talent and creativity of screenwriters who miss their work these days. They have nice puns that are hard to translate, for example “do the writing job” or “Wrong vs. Typing,” references that many viewers will recognize as “”This Won’t Be Our End”, “We are not senior”, “Do not pay us crumbs to write” billionsor “I see rich people.” One of the most famous readings: “Spoilers for Fair contract or Succession”. And there’s one more along those lines: “Spoiler alert: we’re going to win.”