#wga east

[dduane]

"The unit voted UNANIMOUSLY - with 100% participation - to authorize a strike if management does not reach a fair new contract before their current agreement expires this Friday, April 19."

[nottawriter]

Twitter post by Kelly_McKernan:

If we don’t fight back against predatory practices and exploitation against AI right now, than what was it all for? Raise a ruckus. Let’s do this.

[elunoir-unlovable]

based on this

[curator-on-ao3]

It’s not a coincidence that after the AMPTP hired a crisis PR firm that shows from Drew Barrymore to Bill Maher to The Talk to Jennifer Hudson are or are saying they plan to return to air without their writers. Similar language of needing to care for other workers and the WGA not being the only talent that’s important suggest a concerted effort to weaken the WGA stance and depict the writers as selfish and stubborn. And, frankly, the writers dominated the PR side of things for a long time, and losing that dominance as the AMPTP has finally brought on competent help for its own messaging is exceedingly dangerous for the WGA (which is also being positioned as fissuring from within, showrunners versus regular writers). The WGA needs to move, now, even though its negotiating power has already been eroded, before the AMPTP messaging takes hold even more.

Disclaimer: I have no inside information, but the playbook here isn’t new and the WGA needs to win what it can.

[iww-gnv]

Television writer Lisa Takeuchi Cullen is making history, and she’s not thrilled about it. Cullen, 52, who was elected president last month of the Writers Guild of America East, which represents writers of motion pictures, television, news and digital media, becomes the first person of color to lead the organization in its nearly 70-year history. With members currently voting on whether to ratify the tentative deal reached with Hollywood studios after an arduous five-month strike, Cullen, who’s worked as co-executive producer of NBC’s “The Endgame” and as a consulting producer on “Law & Order: SVU,” reflected on the significance of her leading the guild. For her, being a “first” is reflective of what she says is the stubborn pace at which progress is being made in the industry. “Our guild has existed for 69 years, and I’m only the third woman to be the president? And I’m the first person of color? That is nonsense to me. Just pure nonsense,” Cullen, who ran unopposed, said in a phone interview, incredulously. “The fact that it took this long does say a lot, not necessarily about our guild, but really about our industry and how it continues to remain dominated by a certain demographic.”

[troythecatfish]

[sestrahulk]

Tatiana Maslany stands with the Writers Guild of America via her instagram stories

[nottawriter]

Samuel L. Jackson said tax billionaires... From an interview with Vulture by Bilge Ebiri

https://www.vulture.com/article/samuel-l-jackson-in-conversation.html

[ohhfarts]

I love how specific this is. Also, Tawny Newsome ❤️

[ohworm-writes]

I know that, to a lot of people, what I’m about to say is unimportant. But I just wanted to put this out there to the general public of people who follow my content.

I have been writing for years. I have written stories, short and long, since I was in Pre-School, and I’ve kept with that passion since. I love creating complex characters and dynamics, creating worlds and landscapes of my own because- fuck, it’s fun!

And as I’ve grown older, I’ve expanded my work. I’ve done short story commissions once or twice for friends at school because they want to see their own original characters come to life! I created a Tumblr blog (this very one) because I loved seeing the passion people put into writing fan works!

And do you want to know something else really cool? I co-wrote a play for my old highschool. I preformed my own scene on stage with others and I fucking loved it. And after that I decided I wanted to be a screenwriter! Because, holy shit! I genuinely cannot imagine my own work being put onto a big screen, my passion shown to the world!

But now? It’s hard to thing about. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA are on strike, the WGA since May 2nd and SAG-AFTRA since July 14th. They (the WGA) are fighting for wages that they can live on. That is the bare fucking minimum.

I don’t want to come across like I’m oh so unique for stating this, because I sure as hell am not, but- this up and coming generation of individuals who have similar ideas like mine, wanting to put their writing on screen and share their thoughts with the world, have to understand that this is real and this will not stop unless something is done.

I’m not off-put by this and this isn’t going to influence my decision of coming into this field, but it’s a slap to the face. A bucket of ice water dumped over my head. When I grew up, I’d always watch the end credits of films and television shows to, in my little head, thank everyone who worked on the piece.

I always thought that everyone who worked on these became rich because they worked on movies and television. Like- how could they not be paid fair? They worked and worked and worked on these things to make what I was watching real!

And now, wanting to go into that field and seeing so many people- my idols having to fight for basic things, it’s heartbreaking but it also motivates me even more.

As a fan-fiction writer, it’s especially interesting. Do you want to know why I and many others don’t do commissions for writing about fandoms? Because it can be seen as illegal. The works we write about are under certain copyright laws that we have to abide to, whether we are conscious of it or not.

Also? It’s fucking immoral! I can write all of the fan-fiction I want for free, and there’s no problem with that. But, once I start to say, “I’m opening up commissions, so you guys can pay me to write about these characters or fandoms with whatever flavoring you want! I get a profit, you get something I could post for free!” Fair, right?

I won’t ever charge for people to see the things I write because I love writing them! I want everyone to see what I write, whether it’s on a Tumblr blog or on a big screen. That’s the point of it all.

None of these writers, people who write fan-fiction included, want fucking artificial intelligence to write for us- that’s our fucking job! C.AI, ChatGPT and whatever the fuck the others are- just write what you want to see! Ask a writer to write it for you! Pray?! Don’t turn to a fucking machine and say it’s so much better than what people do for fun or, again, a living!

But you have to understand what these people in the WGA are fighting for is the right to be fairly compensated for their work. To have a wage they can live off of and not have a fear looming over them about losing what they’ve worked towards making.

This cannot be too much to ask for, because if it is? Every person, whether you write or consume these kinds of media or not, are doomed.

Pay these writers. Use your platforms for publicizing these types of important issues. Show your support.

[aficionadoenthusiast]

tv companies asking for public support against the strike as if I don't have dvds going back to the 1970s and enough fanfiction to last me into the 2070s

[unforth]

So, the comment was made, "I assume Duck Prints Press supports the WGA strike," and the question was raised, "should we make a public statement about our support?" and while I know virtually no one probably cares about our pov on this topic or about my personal family history...

I did a little googling, and found this list of unions and trade schools for writers from 1981. I've erased the non-relevant information but the circled name, "Leonard Wasser, exec dir"? Yeah. That's my grandfather. That picture was most definitely NOT taken in 1981 (it's from 2007) but.

Poppop was literally their executive director for over a decade.

I work at his desk every single day. I'm sitting at it. right now. When I was little, he had a row of little director chair awards with his name on them along the back of it and he'd let me play with them cause they were cool!

idk, you think I support the WGA? Maybe just a little...

[iww-gnv]

Amid a wave of layoffs sweeping across the media industry, writers and editors at CBS News Digital have formed a union with WGA East for the purpose of collective bargaining. An “overwhelming” majority of CBS News Digital’s 46-member bargaining unit signed union cards on Monday, Feb. 5, according to WGA East — and they are asking management to recognize the union. The union covers workers at CBS News digital platforms including CBSNews.com, its mobile website, social-media channels and the CBS News app.