I launched this Substack in response to our current labor action over at the WGA. On May 2nd we put our pencils down and lifted up signs to fight for a fair deal as screenwriters in Hollywood. Here’s how it’s going on a personal level thus far.
Over 70 days into being unemployed in the very expensive (overpriced?) land of Los Angeles, Ashley and I have finally applied for financial aid. There is a strike fund set up for screenwriters, and the length of this strike is starting to catch up. Thankfully, between a couple of project payments earlier this year, some crew gigs that I hopped on (which are drying up), and this Substack (seriously, thank you so much to all of you who have chipped in to help out, it means the world) we have been able to weather it thus far. We are now at a tipping point of digging into savings that we would prefer not to touch, and also exploring other avenues.
I have applied to some jobs, both part-time and full time in related fields. From graphic design and art directing (I started my creative career in a design studio) to videography and editing, I’ve been looking for opportunities to hop on. Sure, we could likely weather this longer and cut into those aforementioned savings, but it sucks to have to crack into a nest egg just because some studio negotiators don’t give a shit about the human beings that create the value they derive their salaries from.
Ashley and I consider ourselves ‘blue-collar’ creatives in a sense (I’m sure there is a better way to frame this, and if so, send me a message so I don’t sound like an idiot). We don’t have trust funds, we don’t come from money. She spent over a decade coming up the assistant track, building relationships, fundraising for shorts, and starving through countless film project programs. I built a small production company alone, as a self-taught artist, and did every job under the sun. I went back into social work part-time to learn screenwriting. We have done it ourselves, weathering countless storms. The feast or famine element of this job is a very real thing, it is a choice, and we still wouldn’t give it up for the world. It’s par for the course.
I have some issues with some of the social justice language surrounding the strike, and I believe there needs to be a broader, nuanced discussion surrounding the struggle. At the end of the day, many writers are well compensated, have comfortable lives (even by LA standards) and enjoy the many rewards of being in this industry (however due to recent loopholes and studio bullshit that is starting to change - mini-rooms, producer passes ‘aka freework,’ development hell for years and shady agreements). Far more North Americans outside of the industry are locked into brutal working conditions with little oversight, labor organization or support. That being said, we still have significant ground to cover in terms of representation, particularly with POC, Women and those with disabilities. We still don’t have a healthy spread of people from lower income families telling stories about their experiences. We need to contextualize the individual experiences of writers, lift up those who need extra support, and create realistic pathways for careers to bloom. What we are demanding in this strike action will help pave the way for a healthy variety of writers to get their shot. That is the hope.
Working as an artist is a choice, and it can be a tough one, but just because it’s tough, the terms shouldn’t be dictated by those that are saying psychotic things on the other side of the negotiations.
I’m not exaggerating here, they are actually saying psychopathic things about our wellbeing and livelihoods;
“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”
As I’ve mentioned in previous dispatches, writing is hard. It’s hard as fuck. Beyond the difficulty of filling the page and the spiritual battle that is coming up with anything that isn’t total garbage, you then have to interface with a brutal industry full of gatekeeping, nepotism, and people that want you to lose your home. I just can’t help but wonder; isn’t there a way where we can all win? Was there ever a time when everyone looked at each other and said, “damn, we made some cool things together, and some of them even made money, that’s dope. Let’s do it again!” It’s all made up after all.
The structure of art vs. commerce has been screwed up ever since the concept became a thing. There has always been a push pull between those that do the work, and those that fund it. The artists make the mystical works and the merchants who lick their chops at the sight of these masterpieces (and the price tags they attach). Who does the value belong to? Who should be rewarded if something artistic works? Unfortunately, it’s usually not the people who came up with and executed the idea. We all know it, we all feel it. In fact, even outside of the art world, there is a growing discontent across the entire social contract of society and capitalism. I know you feel it in your bones. You work too hard for too little, for those that work too little and gain so much. People are hurting because of the vicious consolidation of wealth. It’s time to dream bigger.
I know people in the corporate world producing obscene value for their bosses and barely being recognized for it, while their leadership rewards themselves constantly. We see businesses constantly abusing “corporate socialism” when they receive bailouts, using those government funds (taxes from people) to supply themselves with grotesque bonuses and stock buybacks. The people in charge of this transaction overlook, or worse, are part of the scheme.
But, I think it’s going to backfire. I think people, who are too stressed and over burdened by modern life (for now), are slowly waking up. We are too hungry, too pissed, too frustrated to be doing so much for so little. It’s not working. Our leaders fail to even touch on the very topics of compensation, taxes, labor rights and banking in a way that begins to deal with the issues. It’s smoke and mirrors, outrage, and culture war for the cynical dweebs in the halls of power. That can only go on for so long. History demonstrates this.
All people want is for it to be fair. For a comfortable and secure life. Equal reward for equal effort. And we could have this, but unfortunately you have to fight for it. They won’t give it up on their own. They never have, and they never will.
Everything that our guild has ever achieved in order to make the writing process more fair and equitable is through our collective action. Each strike has been a necessary burden to ensure that this already difficult field, doesn’t become untenable. They never have come to us and said, “here, these terms will make it easier for you guys to execute your job.” We have always had to put our lives (and homes by their strategy) on the line in order to be able to participate in this career.
While we may be hurting, and considering financial help and alternatives, we are in this for the long haul. Seeing the evil language used in that Deadline article has only served to galvanize the resolve of us and our fellow writers. I have received more messages of support from friends and family since that article came out, than any other time since the strike started. People are seeing the true rot at the core of this broken industry (one of many), and everyday people realize that we are just trying to write works that inspire and entertain, and do it for a fair deal.
People are hurting out here in the biz. They are moving home. They are taking new jobs. They are switching careers. All so some corporate hacks can try and pump up their stocks by dishing out some more cheap content or regurgitated trash. This may sound cynical, but I think it’s cynical to think that it can’t be better for everyone involved. To sit there and shrug your shoulders and think this is as good as it gets is cynical.
I hope we awaken from our collective cynicism and begin to demand human solutions to corporate problems. They create systems that don’t work. They build frameworks that can’t last. They do it on our backs, our dreams, our sweat, our hope.
They underestimate the resiliency and the determination of artists. They underestimate how often we are broke, alone, and fighting for our next shot. They don’t know how long, how hard, how much we work to get here. They never have to live in this tension or discomfort. They couldn’t. That’s why they will lose. That’s why I will bet on people and artists any day.
We march on.
*update; removed some ableist language from the original post