Michael Buckner/Variety
After more than four months of strike, many showrunners are becoming restless.
Writers Guild of America leaders are receiving more and more inquiries from prominent members who are frustrated by the length of the work stoppage and want to understand the guild’s strategy in working with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In response to this increased activity, multiple sources report that several guild leaders will meet in person with a group of showrunners at WGA West headquarters on Friday.
A WGA West communications representative declined to comment, but Chris Keyser, co-chair of the WGA bargaining committee, told Variety via text message: “We have conversations with members every day. I don’t comment on any of them.
The message that various groups of showrunners are trying to convey to guild leaders is clear: “It’s not ‘We’re after you,’ it’s ‘How can we help?'” in the words of one showrunner involved.
A concerted effort was made to keep this activity secret, but it all boiled over late last week and Monday. A group led in part by showrunners Kenya Barris and Noah Hawley attempted to arrange a private meeting with Goodman and Keyser with about 20 to 30 writers at a discreet location.
According to several sources with first-hand information, the group wanted to organize a meeting for September 8th, which was then postponed until September 11th. In the end, the September 11th meeting was canceled – and there are conflicting views as to who canceled it.
The emerging groups of showrunners and senior writers have largely formed around private WhatsApp and Facebook groups that were active during the strike. The overwhelming sentiment is not that these writers are abandoning their public support for the Guild and its mission, but there is deep concern about the growing number of lost income for writers and countless other workers affected by the shutdown of television and film production . The WGA relented on May 2, and the stakes were raised further on July 14 after SAG-AFTRA called for the first industry-wide strike in more than 20 years.
Showrunners who helm multiple shows like Barris and Hawley are frustrated when they hear tales of hardship from crew members, support staff, outside vendors and others who rely on their shows to be produced. The post-Labor Day period is typically a busy time of year for the film and television industry, with the launch of fall TV premieres, fall film festivals and the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, now postponed until January.
In addition to Barris and Hawley, other showrunners involved in discussions about approaching WGA leadership were Tyler Perry, Sam Esmail, Lena Waithe and Dan Fogelman. According to sources, Shonda Rhimes also participated in some discussion groups, but made it clear that she did not want to attend a meeting, sources said. Stranger Things showrunners Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer were asked to attend a meeting but declined.
Representatives for Barris and Hawley declined to comment for this story.
According to several firsthand accounts, a preliminary meeting was scheduled for September 8 at the San Vicente Bungalows, where about two dozen multihyphenates hoped to meet Goodman and Keyser. There is some dispute over whether WGA leaders confirmed this meeting. Sources with first-hand knowledge of the situation said WGA executives were reluctant to include directors David Fincher and Ridley Scott.
A second attempt by the group to meet Goodman and Keyser was scheduled for September 11 in a private area at the Soho House West Hollywood. At both preliminary meetings, organizers were careful to select locations where participants could enter and exit without much attention. The showrunners’ goal is not to publicly pressure the WGA, but to express their sense of urgency about the deal. “People want to understand the process and what the plan is to get everyone back to work,” said one veteran member.
Once again there are different views on who canceled the meeting on September 11th. On the evening of September 11th, after a report on the meeting appeared in the Wrap, there were several posts on WGA members’ social media in which Goodman and Keyser had informed WGA operations captains who were at the time the story was published After meeting with the couple, Barris and Hawley said it was Barris and Hawley who decided to cancel, fearing it would send the wrong message to outsiders. But sources with first-hand knowledge of the situation strongly deny that Barris and Hawley decided to cancel the Sept. 11 meeting.
The WGA has maintained a strong base of support among 11,000 members on both coasts and has generated impressive levels of solidarity and participation in public events since the strike began. Even the most frustrated WGA members tend to publicly criticize the guild for fear of being seen as willing to undermine their union and their fellow authors. Megaphones on social media have amplified the debate, and those who have questioned the WGA’s contracting agenda and tactics have been quick to voice strong criticism.
In addition, the WGA is also known to be receiving increasing numbers of behind-the-scenes inquiries from IATSE and Hollywood Teamsters, whose members have been severely affected by the work stoppage. Both unions face difficult contract negotiations next year. The longer the WGA and SAG-AFTRA go on strike, the harder it will be for the IATSE and Teamsters to call on their members to sacrifice themselves again with another strike if they also reach an impasse with the AMPTP. Nevertheless, IATSE and Teamsters have been vocal and decisive supporters of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA work stoppages, and given the labor climate, that is not expected to change.
For some writers, there is a desire to hear directly from the leaders about the status of negotiations and the Guild’s plan to bring them to a conclusion. And some are irritated by the sporadic pace of negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP, which last met in a formal session on August 18. Over the past three weeks, the guild and management have publicly stated that the responsibility for a restart lies on the other side of negotiations with a new offer or a response to an existing offer. Showrunners reaching out to the guild emphasize that they do not want the WGA to rubber-stamp the final AMPTP offer, which came to the table on August 18. But there is a feeling that the guild leaders need to join forces with management representatives to find a way to get a contract to the finish line. The WGA and AMPTP last met on August 22, when Goodman, Keyser and WGA West’s Ellen Stutzman met with Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, and NBCUniversal Chief Content Officer Donna Langley.
“The ‘Keep Walking’ message isn’t enough when we were just walking in 30-degree heat,” said one veteran WGA member, citing Keyser’s video message sent to guild members on Labor Day.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer’s involvement in the showrunner reach.
Gene Maddaus contributed to this story.