Protesters at a WGA Strong rally in Los Angeles on June 21.
Katherine Kilkenny for THR
Over 5,000 writers and supporters descended on the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday to rally support during the eighth week of the Writers Guild of America work stoppage.
At the WGA Strong rally, personalities such as I’m a Virgo writer-director Boots Riley, WGA negotiating committee member Adam Conover, and Teamsters Local 399 executive Lindsay Dougherty delivered lively and sometimes profanity-filled speeches Speeches and a musical performance by singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc (who once pointedly sang “I Need a Dollar”). The overall message to writers who are now 51 days on their first strike in 15 years? Hollywood work is behind you.
The event also served as a sort of flex for the industry. “We’re out here today to tell businesses how strong we are,” said Adam Conover (The G Word), a member of the WGA negotiating committee who served as moderator for the rally. He added: “Carol [Lombardini, the president of the AMPTP] I didn’t plan how strong we are. She didn’t expect that after eight weeks we would bring the same energy as on the first day. She wasn’t planning on having workers from every union in the city join our picket lines.” Riley added, “They’re scared of what’s going on. They are afraid of how militant and combative we have become.”
The event began with a march from Pan Pacific Park to the La Brea Tar Pits, winding around the Grove and Third St., past WGA West Headquarters and the Academy Museum. The writers wore bright blue WGA shirts and held signs with phrases such as “We’re spreading the stories,” “We can break you,” “Wrote ChatGPT this,” and “Say NO to unprotected devices.” They were joined in the entertainment area by fellow union members by SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the American Federation of Musicians and the Teamsters.
Demonstrators during a WGA Strong Rally in Los Angeles on June 21. Xennia Hamilton for THR
As the group reached the tar pits, numerous leaders from fellow unions addressed the crowd and pledged their full solidarity with the WGA, although some pointed to the casualties of their own members during the walkout period. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator, recently emerged from a negotiation session at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks and told authors: “This fight is a fight for everyone in this industry to ensure we all continue to make our living which we’re happy to do.” Former DGA President Thomas Schlemme said entertainment companies should “bust their ass and get back talking to the WGA.”
Addressing the fact that work for many in the industry has slowed significantly during the strike, IATSE Vice President and Director of Film and Television Mike Miller said: “It’s time for them [the AMPTP] to realize that the pain they inflict will not be the reason that drives things back to the negotiating table. What will bring us back to the negotiating table is the likelihood of a fair deal that takes into account the value that everyone in the industry brings to these studios.”
The event ended with some sharp words from Lindsay Dougherty, leader of Teamsters Local 399, whose notoriety skyrocketed during the strike due to her unwavering support of the writers and the fact that many of their members have refused to exceed their picket lines. “The studios and the tech companies wanted to pressure you and try to break you. But guess what? We won’t allow that. None of us. Absolutely not.” Referring to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum, she called the setting for the rally “appropriate” as it features a number of extinct species. “I think what we need to do with the AMPTP is let them fucking die out.”
Demonstrators outside the Writers Guild of America building in Los Angeles on June 21. Katherine Kilkenny for THR
About 11,500 WGA members have been on strike since May 2 in a battle with studios and streamers over the size and duration of writer rooms, streaming balance payments and total compensation and regulation of artificial intelligence, among others. In the LA area, scribblers participated in daily pickets outside production centers such as the Paramount Studio Lot, Warner Bros. Lot, CBS Radford, and Television City. In addition to these daily marches, some writers engaged in deliberate pickets aimed at shutting down individual productions, as many crew members respect writers’ pickets. The WGA and AMPTP have not yet set a date for their return to the negotiating table.
The dozens of days of strikes were taking their toll, some union members admitted at the event. “Hey, I don’t eat as well as I used to. I think yes, I have to deal with that. But c’est la vie,” said author Joy Kecken (Kindred). Overall, she said: “The proposals are solid and we are so close. That’s the sad part, it’s all about getting back to the table and finding leadership [on the management side].”
Robin Winter-Young, production manager for the DGA (The Back-Up Plan) unit, which marched with writers during the event, said she is currently at risk of eviction. Still, the industry model needs to change, she said, and the WGA is leading the transformation: “We have to support our sister unions. If we don’t support our sister unions, the entire industry will perish.”
DGA and SAG-AFTRA member Richard Gonzales (The Rookie) reiterated the view that the strike was a major turning point for businesses, saying that while the shutdown is “harming all craft shops, it’s hurting all PAs, all the companies that deal with it “With different shows,” it’s still “a big change that has to happen because it hasn’t happened yet.”
Alex McNally (Long Bright River) argued that the event appeared to have taken place at a “crucial moment” in the strike, given that the WGA’s last strike in 2007 and 2008 lasted 100 days and this one just passed the 50-day mark have exceeded mark. She hoped the event would draw business attention. “It’s a visual medium that most of us work with, as if seeing it helps land it,” she said as a news helicopter circled overhead. “I hope they can see how united and strong we are, how important the issues we are fighting for are and how much we want to get back to the table and sort things out.”
SAG-AFTRA member James Tripp (Hollywood Radio Players), gazing at the multitude of bright blue shirts in the La Brea tar pits, noted that this moment “signals the resurgence of unionism in this country.” He added, “Enough is enough.”
Protesters during a WGA Strong rally in Los Angeles on June 21. Katherine Kilkenny for THR