2023 Writers + Actors Strike Thread

[~bl~]

DWTS has one WGA member in their staff, so about 500 people are being picketed for one employee who is striking… it would be different if DWTS had any sort of replay value for the content that was written as dance routines are not covered by the strike. 

[j swift]

Picketing is obviously a symbolic action to highlight the bigger cause.  I don't think it is right to criticize where the WGA chooses to protest, given that the message is the same whether a production has one writer or a dozen.

[Soaplovers]

I will criticize if the protesting veers into bullying...which I noticed some of the juvenile antics of some of the SAG toward Drew Barrymore and other people.

 

[dragonflies]

Yep I agree @Soaplovers
 

 

 

[titan1978]

Yes it is. If you go back a couple of pages, I quoted from Michele Val Jean’s repost about daytime talk shows before Drew change course. They have writers under the striking contract and writers covered under a different contract, and news writers. And the news copy writers have a contract expiring next year.

Also- they were already striking the View before the Drew stuff happened. It was even on their strike schedule weekly, I believe they were there every Wednesday.

I’m never cool with personal attacks, but calling out scabs by striking employees is not bullying. It’s the consequences of those decisions. Drew did get a lot of heat. Partly from the ridiculous statements she kept posting, part from the WGA, and also because she is in SAG-AFTRA. Hard to deny women often get criticized harder and more harshly, that’s never good and should be called out. But again, I saw a lot of accountability from her actual entertainment peers, and lots of going too far from the general public.

Please register in order to view this content

[dragonflies]

The View, from my understanding isn't part of the WGA

[titan1978]

From what I have seen from various sources is that they have 2 WGA writers covered under the contract that is striking. I didn’t know the number until I saw Twitter conversations from writers, including Michele Val Jean. I trust the folks working in this industry, especially the strike captains, with knowing the contracts involved.

[Soapsuds]

The sad part is that I haven't missed anything with the strike still on going. 

It's only a positive with Ron Carlivati on the sidelines.

[dragonflies]

 

 

[Liberty City]

Well, that's a positive sign of things to come. Hoping SAG-AFTRA can achieve the same.

[dragonflies]

 

 

[DRW50]

I saw a long comment on Deadline from someone who said 3 years for a new contract isn't enough, how the tech people will still use AI to crush them, and this is like the coal miner's strike in the UK in the mid '80s where they weren't prepared for the changes in technology that led Thatcher to be able to wipe them out. They have a good point, but unfortunately I think many took AI for granted until recently. Even early this year it seemed like a lot of people were just treating it, and ChatGPT, as a harmless joke.

[JAS0N47]

WITH WGA STRIKE POSSIBLY NEARING ITS END, HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS FOR "DAYS OF OUR LIVES" VIEWERS...

 

"Days" fans, with the WGA (writer) strike possibly set to end in the coming days, here's an update on what to expect with "Days of Our Lives." Head writer Ron Carlivati said in early May that he had written through around Christmas Day 2023 when the strike started on May 1. With the strike nearing its 5-month mark, that means all of the "Days" episode storylines airing from around Christmas Day 2023 through around the end of May Sweeps 2024 will have been written by scabs. As for the dialogue (script) writers, who work several weeks behind Carlivati's storylines, that means a majority of the dialogue (scripts) will have been written by scabs and airing from around early-mid December 2023 to early-mid May 2024. All of these are the estimated time frames. The WGA deal is not yet finalized, but from reports, could be over in the coming days.

Edited September 24, 2023 by JAS0N47

[DRW50]

Thanks for the updates. 

So, since soap actors aren't part of the strike, does that mean as soon as the WGA deal is ratified, the striking DAYS writers immediately return? 

Sorry to ask you more questions, but were there any DAYS writers who didn't return after a writers' strike? 

[JAS0N47]

Things look to be less finalized than the earlier reports tonight. Now they issued a joint statement saying negotiations will continue tomorrow (Sunday). But if things go well, and the strike ends, I think I read it usually takes a week or so after that for the membership to ratify a new contract, so my guess is if things are done tomorrow, then the Days writers (and all other writers) would go back to work around Monday, October 2. So October 2 would probably be the day that the late-night talk shows return, and I don't know how quickly they can write an SNL episode, but perhaps they could be back with a season premiere on Saturday, October 7. Although maybe it takes them longer and they can't be back until November?  I also don't know if SNL falls into a SAG-AFTRA contract like the soaps do, so I'm not sure if the SNL actors are on strike (or not on strike like the soap actors are).

Writers can't be fired during a strike, but you are correct, Days fired its head writer (Hogan Sheffer) and I think a majority of the other writers (I don't have time to check the database) the day the strike ended in 2008. 

Days already has three writers leaving: Carolyn & Richard Culliton retired days before the strike ended and Jamey Giddens has moved on (but has tweeted he still technically is under his Days contract, which is on "pause" during the strike, so they could technically still have him return and fulfill his contract and write another episode or two). Also, I don't know what Sonja Alarr's plans are now that her husband was fired. So, whatever happens, Days will have a lot of new writers coming when the strike ends.

UPDATED: You had me interested in checking, so I checked, and Days fired Hogan Sheffer, Meg Kelly, Tom Casiello, Charlotte Gibson, Frederick Johnson, Gordon Rayfield, Judy Tate, Richard Backus, Mike Cohen and Judith Donato as soon as the strike was over, so that was pretty much the entire writing staff. But they were fired after the strike ended, not during the strike, so I guess that's technically allowed, although probably not the best PR move.

Edited September 24, 2023 by JAS0N47