Kate Stayman-London, a writer and co-producer on the Paramount+ series "iCarly" who's been a guild member since 2021, is a strike captain liaising with about 20 writers. To writers like Steinberg, the AMPTP's stance on AI, pay, and other guild concerns reveals a deeper risk for creative workers: a mentality forged in the halls of Wall Street and Silicon Valley that doesn't recognize the "magic" writers bring to audiences, but instead is singularly focused on boosting shareholders' returns, he said. "Even the creators of AI are talking about its dangers now," this writer said. Outside Netflix's Hollywood headquarters Tuesday, the scene was cacophonous, the crowd exuberant, and the atmosphere teeming with something of a ground-zero vibe reflecting the company's status as the disrupter that ushered in the streaming age. Picket lines gathered at companies including Amazon, Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros. 'We have to take it, because the studios are not going to give it to us out of the goodness of their hearts' Many picketers personalized their guild-issued signs with writerly quotes and pithy jokes, but the underlying message was united and clear: They don't intend to back down - even if hammering out an agreement with the studios takes longer than they anticipate. During interviews, emphatic honks from passing cars sliced through the Los Angeles air as drivers - some behind the wheels of fire trucks and ambulances - let the writers know they had their backs. Insider spoke with eight WGA members who are picketing or contributing to the work stoppage in other ways. The gathering brought new energy and urgency to the picket lines Thursday. At a rally Wednesday night in LA's Shrine Auditorium (following a similar meeting of WGA East members in New York), more than 1,800 guild members turned out and were heartened by the "incredible support" of representatives from other entertainment unions, according to one person in attendance. "The companies' behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing," the WGA said of the AMPTP in a statement Monday night. One writer's dog joined the picket line outside Paramount Studios. And in the streaming age, residuals - the passive income they once relied upon during gaps between jobs - have essentially dried up. Meanwhile, seasons of shows have withered from 20-30 episodes to just a handful (like eight or 10), slashing writers' incomes. The strike was called a few hours before midnight PT on Tuesday, after WGA leaders reached an impasse in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that represents more than 350 studios, networks, and streamers, including Netflix, Disney, and Amazon.Īmong the issues at hand for the WGA's more than 10,000 members are stagnating wages, rising living costs, the threat that AI could one day supplant writers, and increasingly-common practices like "mini rooms" that undercut their work. They're buoyed by the highest level of support for a strike in the WGA's history: an overwhelming authorization last month from 98% of the members who voted. Thousands of Hollywood writers have fanned out across the streets of Los Angeles since that first afternoon, waving signs and chanting to demonstrate their resolve. "This disruption is going to kill the industry," he said, adding that writers are "fighting for their own survival." It's the reason why he logged more than 20,000 steps on the picket line Tuesday. Steinberg lamented the growing pressures at entertainment companies to juice profits, maximize efficiencies, and flirt with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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