‘Pay your writers or we’ll spoil Succession’: Images from day one of the Hollywood writers’ strike
Tuesday marked the beginning of the writers’ strike, as TV and film writers with the Writers Guild of America marched in picket lines in New York City and across Hollywood.
Writers and supporters gathered outside of Peacock Newfront in Manhattan and outside of Amazon Studios, Disney, and Netflix offices in Southern California, among other locations. Picketers held signs reading “No pages without fair wages” and “Pay your writers or we’ll spoil Succession.”
In California, Bill Nye joined writers on the picket lines, as did Rob Lowe, who spoke to Deadline to share why he supported the strike: “We’re only as good as the writing we get.” Outside of the Disney studios, one writer shared a video of Jay Leno stopping by the picket line to hand out donuts to striking writers.
Along with showing support in person, actors and other entertainers also shared why they’re standing with writers online. Comedian John Mulaney, who previously worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live, said that he was canceling his May 6 event with Jon Stewart, noting that he stands with the Guild writers during the strike.
J. Smith-Cameron, who stars as Gerri Kellman in the HBO series Succession, tweeted her support, saying, “It all starts with the writing.”
Wanda Sykes, who marched with writers in 2007 when the Guild went on strike for 100 days, shared a photo of herself holding a “Writers Guild of America On Strike” sign with the caption: “Here we go again!”
Guild members also saw support from other entertainment unions, including SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and from the Teamsters, who represent an array of jobs on sets from drivers to animal handlers. Previously, multiple other unions had come out with statements of support for the WGA ahead of the strike.
Writers are striking over issues around streaming residuals, the use of mini-rooms, higher minimum pay floors, and AI’s role in the writers’ room. Guild members shared the document of proposals the WGA presented to the studios online; on the point of AI, that document shows that writers asked to “regulate the use of artificial intelligence on [minimum basic agreement]-covered projects; AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and MBA-covered material can’t be used to train AI.” The AMPTP’s response, per that document, was to reject that proposal, and to counter by offering “annual meetings to discuss advancements of technology.”
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