Illustration by Zohar Lazar
Right now, Warren Leight, veteran showrunner of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Strike Captain of the Writers Guild, is asleep for not airing a TV show. He is a key figure in his union’s shift to a more targeted picket strategy aimed at shutting down production facilities.
“There were two dozen people on the street at 2 a.m. this morning blocking Billions, which is metaphorically perfect,” he said on ‘s TV podcast “Top 5” on May 24, discussing a recent expansion of the Demonstration protests at corporate headquarters toward more disruptive measures that should impact bottom line and rebalance power dynamics. The shift in strategy came from the membership base, he says, although the guild leadership now “recognizes that this is a pretty powerful thing.”
Leight, who draws on connections from his long history as a television writer and showrunner, as well as his high profile on social media, has helped organize a number of successful work events – small groups that meet within a few – along with a growing number of WGA colleagues Hours gathered, whose lines of protest are often respected (and sometimes supported) by Teamsters, IATSE members, and other sympathetic allies. The result is production downtime. “The whole idea is to empty that [content] Pipeline,” he says.
The closures have spread across the country, from Loot and Good Trouble in Los Angeles to The Chi in Chicago to Evil in New York.
In early May, writers held pickets outside the shooting of writer-director Aziz Ansari’s Lionsgate film Good Fortune for about two and a half days in Los Angeles until production was indefinitely halted on May 19. Picket worker Kyra Jones (Woke, Queens) speaks of these actions, “Slap [employers] in the pockets harder than anything else we do. And hopefully that will get them to get us back on track and able to get back to work.” Lauren Conn (The Lost Symbol), who has also joined the Good Fortune picket line, adds: “We need to make sure that it is not written everywhere.”
The focus on closures based on collaboration with other unions in the workplace is a notable change for the Writers Guild. No such strategy existed during its last strike in 2007-2008, when it was far more isolated and at odds with its nominal union allies. Now the guild is the beneficiary of unity, in line with the fractious Hollywood workers’ group of other unions, each harboring their own, sometimes overlapping, grievances and anxious to pave the way for their own contract negotiations. For its part, the WGA declined to discuss “the specifics” of the shutdown strategy.
On average, a lost production day costs companies between $200,000 and $300,000. Plant closures due to strikes are not covered by insurance policies. Leading insurance insurer in the industry, Allianz, tells THR: “It is still early and too early to speculate on the potential impact on future insurance premiums.”
Like the recent impact of the pandemic on studio plans, some of the ongoing productions that were abandoned during the strike may not return after the strike, senior company decision-makers say. Considerations include the number of episodes remaining to be filmed in the season, cast availability, and the importance of the show to its platform.
Several senior executives, who spoke to THR on condition of anonymity, used the same word to describe the guerrilla-style activities: “effective.” It has triggered an ongoing game of cat and mouse. Mobilize rapid response units from WGA members to demonstrate based on leads outside studio gates and film locations. Although LA location permits are public knowledge (announcements of filming in the neighborhood are released prior to production, while production activity is released 48 hours after filming is complete), at least some of the actionable information comes, particularly the more last-minute information present, from Sympathetics members of other unions.
Picket shifts begin, end, or often last overnight to ensure their limits are not exceeded. To counter these efforts, some productions have circulated call sheets with false call times and, in the case of Billions, bused crew members to the set, possibly to help them cross the picket lines and give them some anonymity.
Jones recalls showing up to a production-related picket line at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood to find that no production activity was taking place. “No one came — either they postponed the shoot or moved somewhere else, or maybe we got the wrong information,” she says.
Lindsay Dougherty, the leader of the Hollywood Teamsters, whose drivers have turned their backs on the picket lines (her organization is due to negotiate with the AMPTP next year), says she is not surprised by the WGA’s decision to halt production. “If this were our strike,” she says, “we would do the same.”
Key grip and stunt rigger Wade Cordts is the admin of a Facebook group that has become a channel for crew member-sourced production information at WGA pickets. He believes the seething anger created a unique moment of solidarity across the industry. “Right now everyone is ‘under the line,'” notes Cordts, a member of SAG-AFTRA and IATSE. “It’s these megacorporations trying to crush the workforce.”
A programmer finds that the closures mean crew members can no longer work on projects the writers have already been paid for. “Who does this really hurt?” They say. “Is it really hurting the studios? Not really.” This sentiment is echoed by a top production manager at another property, who adds, “It’s all cost-driven. Save them taxes.”
A veteran showrunner and longtime WGA member doesn’t think there’s a glimmer of hope for the studios given this twist. “If their goal is to save money, closing all the shows and getting out of show business will really save them all that money,” says this person. Another veteran studio player agrees, pointing out that any financial boom is short-term: “The whole point of a studio is to be in production. There have been projections of what that is [stopped] Shows would take care of us. That’s a loss.”
Regardless, labor experts note that for writers and their trade, the closures are broadly about flexing their muscles, nurturing their alliances, and lifting their spirits.
“It stops production, but it’s also a way of promoting strength and determination,” explains Georgetown professor of union power Michael Kazin.
Erik Loomis, a University of Rhode Island professor and author of A History of America in Ten Strikes, adds: “Maintaining morale is critical. Otherwise people disappear – they look for another job, they cross the picket line.”
Joshua B. Freeman, a professor at the City University of New York and a scholar of factory work, agrees. “Doing something as a group builds solidarity,” he says, and production shutdowns in the entertainment sector, which require workers in other unions to work together, build camaraderie. “If you look at the long-term power dynamics between these workers and these employers, a visible solidarity shows the employer that they are not just taking on an isolated group. They take on anyone.”
As Hollywood Teamsters boss Dougherty puts it about the writers’ tacit and open support for the closure strategy, “It’s a sacrifice everyone is making because everyone wants the strike to end as soon as possible.” That’s the hope – that the productions all come back earlier because these projects are obviously important for employers.”
A version of this story first appeared in the May 31 issue of magazine. Click here to login.