and so it begins. May 1st, 2023.

Hollywood Writers Strike: Official Sources

The Writer's Guild of America has voted to strike, and I want to get out ahead of something Tumblr is bad about doing and encourage y'all to PLEASE get your information about the strike from the guild itself, not from random people on Tumblr telling you it's "actually" about this or that.

The WGA wants the public to understand why they are striking. They have plenty of info available that is written with a general audience in mind.

WGA.org is the official website of the Writer's Guild of America West.

WGAwest is on Twitter and posting extensively about the negotiations and strike. This account is linked from the WGA website.

WGA also has a Linktree (linked from their Twitter bio) with more information about the strike, including their own Twitter threads about various strike issues, as well as articles in the media.

WGA Contract 2023 is a website full of information about the strike. It is one of the first links in the Linktree above. It's a great resource if you want to get deeper into the subject. There is a FAQ.

Any third party explaining the issue for you has an opportunity to, intentionally or not, insert their own spin or agenda. Get the information from the source.

THEY FUCKING DID IT! fantastic news! Solidarity with SAG-AFTRA!

I think now is a good time to remind people of The Internet Archive which has a metric shit ton of shows and movies for free and won't give your computer any viruses cause it's not a pirate website.

Or Tubi, which has a metric shit ton of stuff free with ads, and you don't even have to make an account or download the app. Same with Pluto, although Pluto is pretty slow.

Even YouTube has a lot of free stuff, and I don't just mean the official YouTube movie channel. I mean, there's a bunch of channels that upload movies you can watch without having to click a link to some shady website. YouTube also has a lot of audio book uploads too.

So don't worry about not getting brand new shows because there's so much media out there's that you haven't even consumed yet.

Per Deadline and Vanity Fair:

Studio execs making millions publicly admit to their plan to simply wait out the writers’ strike.

You know everything going on with both Writers and Actors going on strike as they so rightfully should and really gives fucking Hollywood something to think about how they terribly treat the people that make this industry what it is.

I'm seriously waiting so hard for Animators and VFX artists and CGI animators / artists within the animation industry to start going on strike as well soon. Because Animators for far too long has been getting a raw deal, but especially with everything going on nowadays with these streaming services that can just obliterate an animated show or movie that you been working on for years or passionately made that can just so easily be turned into lose media like nothing, or have said animated work be removed from the platform entirely with no chance of it being seen ever again or even release as a DVD. Or how lately these Entertainment companies are either overworking or poorly underpaying their Animators and VFX artists very little and just not giving a fuck about them at all.

I'm so ready for Animators and everyone else in the animation industry to just walk out of a studio in-mid production or something because this shit has gotten to be way too much and sad.

It can be so disheartening seeing show which center girls and women, especially queer women getting cancelled left and right. As a queer trans person looking to break into film and tv, it can feel hopeless.

Sometimes I have to take a step back and remember that just 10 years ago when I was 14 and coming out, I had two shows. Just two shows that centered around the lives of queer women, The L Word and South Of Nowhere. (Mind you I wasn't ready to fully appreciate Xena. As 14 year old Canadian living in 2017 and an accepting home, subtext wasn't what I needed or understood. Plus I thought I was above campy old tv.) The L Word wasn't exactly age appropriate, and respectful representation of gender non conformity and being trans was near non-existent.

Which isn't to say that we should cut the industry any slack, just to say that even though justice and equity can never come fast enough there is movement happening. It's also worth noting that the refusal to invest in longer stories is a problem spanning the industry in this streaming age, it is shaped by a lot of issues around companies not wanting to pay for writers and residuals. It's an issue that disproportionately affects marginalized communities, but everyone out there on the picket lines supporting the writers guild strike is fighting for all kinds of stories to be told, and workers to be paid.

II'll never make excuses for the power structures in place, but its reflections like these that spark the hope in me needed to get up and fight another day. To demand better.

Honestly nothing has cheered me up as much as hearing SAG went on strike. Idk why, I just feel grateful for this one piece of good news after such a shitty week.

Hey the WGA strike has started! If you want a breakdown of what is going on, the gist is this.

The WGA wants to make writer's rooms again (so more people are hired), adjust the fees for the higher quality streaming seasons (fees are based when episodes had 22 episodes) and just... set things up so new writers can be trained and everyone is paid a sustainable wage.

In addition, the DGA is undergoing a similar negotiation right now. They may decide to strike in sympathy or earlier as they are dealing with similar issues.

Please support both! The documents above detail the latest negotiations. As you can see, all offers were rejected or counter offers would make things worse.

Philemon's IG story

Um... I'm not sure what Philemon's trying to say with this picture, lol, but his written text is lovely.

“Tried to scare you”: Producer “almost killed” picketing writers with SUV

Today in Atlanta, producer Ian Woolf (BMF) allegedly tried to run over protesting writers with his SUV, as reported on Twitter by striking writer Brian Egeston (The Game, On a Wing and a Prayer), one of those nearly hit by the vehicle.

The full text of Brian Egeston's open letter to Woolf:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MAN WHO ALMOST KILLED ME ON THE WGA PICKET LINE TODAY. A thread… Dear Mr. Ian Woolf, Welcome to Atlanta. Years ago, forward thinkers and Civil Rights icons labeled our fair town, ‘the city too busy to hate’. What you did today on Hank Aaron Drive and blocks from the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr….was hateful. When you pointed your SUV at me as though it were a weapon and slammed the breaks within six feet of writers, I felt the hate and aggression of scenarios similar to Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and others who have been harmed at the hands of hate-filled oppressors. As I marched with the WGA in a peaceful protest, similar to the giants who have walked the very streets where you almost committed manslaughter, you chose to—in your own words— “Tried to scare you.” Mr. Woolf, this scare and intimidation tactic reeks of German Shepards, water hoses, bricks and burning flesh. It reeks of the worst kind of hate. A hate that continually divides us as a people. I would implore you, in hindsight, to consider the ramifications of killing an African-American man in the streets of the city too busy to hate, while being the producer of an African-American TV show, created by an African American man, run by an African-American Man. Mr. Woolf, your actions purveyed a deep generational hate for us. And that, sir, is a travesty for which you must be held accountable. If not by your superiors and peers, then by the people of Atlanta because the South will have something to say about what you did today. Should you choose to remain in our city, where I will remind you that you are a guest, I beg of you to lead with love and refrain from being a drum major for hate and potential manslaughter. I pray God’s grace and mercy over your life. Brian Egeston Writer

This polygon.com article is a really good overview of who should and who should not be promoting struck content.

What I took from it is that, at this time, there are no calls for any boycotts; just support. Unless you are considered to be an influencer and/or you aspire to join SAG-AFTRA and/or WAG in the future, it is okay to create and share casual content. Your fanfiction, fan art, and cosplays are not replacing any union jobs. The article also makes a point of saying that whether you feel comfortable creating fan content during these strikes is a very personal decision. But it's important to note that those who do choose to continue creating casual fan content are not crossing picket lines.

The article closes with this message:

AT THE END OF THE DAY… Remember: The studios benefit from confusion about these rules. When in doubt, listen to what the official union channels are saying. Some individual members may say stuff that contradicts the guidance, but you can check out the official SAG-AFTRA and WGA websites to verify any information. Right now, the best way to support the striking workers is to donate to strike funds and show solidarity on social media.

Did you make the "Byler won't write itself" graphic? I think someone on Twitter may be trying to profit off of your work (and the strikers work 😒) by selling shirts, pins, and other merch.

Yeah! I think profiting off of the striker is the worst part, though the no credit part is a bit… Obviously the sign nor the graphic was copyrighted but I guessed people had more respect.

"No matter how much new technology can be thrown into a movie, no matter what new stars or concepts or directors are hot, and no matter how much Sylvester Stallone gets paid, the foundation of any successful film will always be a good, well-written story. A bad movie can be made out of a good script, but never the reverse. Hollywood will always need the screenwriter."

-Michael Hauge, "Writing Screenplays That Sell"