Writers Guild Of America - Tumblr Posts
sometimes i forget how fucking much i hate rich people and capitalism but then the writers & actors strike happened
Imagine actually being so evil that you'd rather make sure your writers suffer financially instead of just paying them the pay they deserve. Hell truly has some seats reserved already, holy shit.
Hey y'all. With the Writer's Guild of America on strike, you might be hearing a lot more about something called "residuals," which are payments that the writers get for the studios continuing to air their work on reruns and such. Already I'm seeing people trying to frame the union trying to bargain for better residuals as greedy and unreasonable, so I just wanted to give you guys a peek into my dad's full, 100% real residual payments for writing some of the most watched episodes of American late night television.
Yeah lol. If u hear anyone trying to frame the conversation around residuals as writers being greedy, please do me a favor and punch them straight in the face ❤️🙃🙃
Imagine actually being so evil that you'd rather make sure your writers suffer financially instead of just paying them the pay they deserve. Hell truly has some seats reserved already, holy shit.
do they think that these AI are going to churn out anything that anyone wants? anything soulful like our wonderful writers already put their lives and hearts into??
it’s about convenience for them, and they’ll soon be crying when their 5000 shows are over because they neglected to pay people who work their fucking arses off for stuff that they love to create for their audiences that love them just as much.
PAY WHAT IS OWED. ITS THAT FUCKING EASY!
I’m convinced the executives who think AI can replace actual writers don’t realize how soulless the average ChatGPT pitch can be.
Break A Leg, But Not The Strike Line
A suggestion for fans and viewers. Another way to support the WGA & SAG-AFTRA strike (and really, other guilds that surround the arts) is to check out your local art scene wherever you live if you haven't yet done so. A lot of talent from coast to coast in towns and cities small and large have theater productions of all types, independent productions (including cinema), children's theater, dance, and so on.
It is where the spark may be turned into a flame! From behind the scenes with sets, costumes, the list goes on and on. Watch, volunteer, have a blast, art is for you!
*I should add that I know stage production is different, but I'm going to plug all of it because writers/actors/costumers/ etc all get started someway, somehow, somewhere, and why not celebrate human creativity wherever and whoever you are?!
"Check The Math On That..."
With respect to The Social Network gif regarding Universal Studios, Tree Law, and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike I posted, look once more at the scene where Mr. Garfield is smashing the laptop. Besides Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake, how many background actors do you see? The witnesses to this pivotal scene are there for a reason that enhances every single thing about the emotions on display.
I want human beings in those scenes, not AI. Do the math, pay the actors, and don't replace them with machines. Destroy the laptop not the people.
The people you don't see in films, the writers, the crew, and all the others who labor or work in industries nationwide to support our well-being and our daily lives? Pay them a living wage. They count.
Chuck Dickens Has His Day In The Sun
It was the best of times...
It was the worst of times...
And somewhere on a sun-scorched L.A. sidewalk, I really hope there is a card carrying guild writer who is not suffering from heat stroke and manages to consider a modern day tale of two cities movies set amidst the strife and sorrow of modern day life and the class struggles and the gender struggles, and the race struggles that continue to exist. Wherein Chuck Dickens, producer, stepping outside in the scorching sun; runs across his old pal Carton. Carton, (whose nickname derives from his current state of homelessness), can barely recall what life was like before and during the year of the strike when the answers seemed so obvious and yet "it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness." While Dickens buys him lunch and they chat, and Carton thinks of one on his own: it was the age of conspicuous cruelty.
Is the tale I just constructed obscenely obvious (as to its origin) and didactic in its manner? Yep. But that's because I'm not the talent; the writers are. The artists are. Not the machines, but the humans. The ones who come up with the stories that make us laugh and cry and rage and wonder and most importantly: think, consider, imagine the possibilities.
I cannot imagine life without the tapestry of human experiences that continue to be woven as we speak. Pay the humans who help us discover perspectives, who help provide services and goods that improve our lives, and whose labor and efforts have value beyond numbers and machines. The choice to have done the better thing is sometimes made too late and the Age of Regret begins.
Hear hear. I reblogged this for a couple of reasons but I'll focus on the one that let's me ramble on in a similar fashion (re: to your tag below your post) because your anon's comment hit a nerve with me.
It is of great benefit to be invested in your local community. Without a doubt. Living, working, volunteering, contributing locally--building relationships, breaking bread with each other, and recognizing each other's special gifts and humanity is essential.
However, it is also of great benefit to expand those horizons. The term 'global' is sometimes used as a dog whistle (not going there), and in addition there are a number of people who prefer isolationist policy but in truth, we humans have been 'global' for centuries. We have explored, traveled, sought goods and services, trafficked in people, escaped desperate conditions, and fought over soil and commodities. Again, for centuries. To ignore the plight of others outside of our communities is to ignore all of us. Does it take time in our busy world to pay attention? Sure. But in ways both small and large, it enriches us. All of us.
The late Carl Sagan, in his essay from his book The Pale Blue Dot, said it quite well and I've never forgotten his words from the first time that I read them. I don't wish to violate copyright so I will only post the link, but when one looks at the photo (taken by NASA from the Voyager spacecraft) of earth and reads his words, it resonates. It resonates because we forget so much more than we will ever learn and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that and be humbled by it and willing to open our eyes and ears to the world. Here is the link, and if you've never read it, please do. It's a short read; takes much less time than making a cup of tea or even trolling and scrolling on the internet.
As a side note, I am so excited that there is to be a film about *Carl Sagan and his wife, Ann Druyan coming out in the future. It may have to wait due to current events, but the humans who labor and love and create are much more valuable than the final objects we desire.
*Voyagers (Zach Dean, writer; Sebastian Lelio, director; Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones in the titular roles) Looking forward to what these talented professionals can do with this story.
Tag: @ridiculously-over-obsessed
Why do you keep going on about the strikes, they don't affect you, it's annoying you're not even american stfu
Pst anon, I have a present for you, are you ready??
Also if you think this strike only affects American writers/actors etc, then you're wrong. These strikes set an industry tone that will have reprocussions world wide, the ramifications that this will have for the future of AI alone is staggering. Plus, as someone who wants to one day be a member of the WGA/SAG-AFTRA because I recognise that that is where the majority of work in this industry lies, of course I'm watching it closely??
Normalise being interested and invested in the world outside your small bubble of existence
Cosmo's Moonstruck (Strike)
I simply cannot picture AI ever coming up with the delightful original screenplay (written by John Patrick Shanley) for the film Moonstruck (1987). Perhaps those in the AMPTP can heed Loretta Castorini's words and change the way they do things. What the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA are asking is not unreasonable. But then again, Loretta inherited her wisdom from her mother and Rose Castorini was a smart cookie...
Cosmo Castorini: I have no money.
Rose Castorini: You're as rich as Roosevelt. You're just cheap, Cosmo.
Hear that studio executives?
I hope the AMPTP won't wait until the moon is full and bright to make up. Even in darkness, the path forward is quite clear: compensation and safe treatment assist creativity and productivity and everyone benefits.
To those that say well, the studios could use AI and then have a writer polish it up:
Where Hugo, I Go...
Rewatched for the umpteenth time, the lovely film, Hugo (2011). If you haven't seen it, nor read the book by Brian Selznick upon which it is based, please consider a look and a read.
We rewatch films for a variety of reasons, just as we often do for books. Always something new and different to see, to hear, to learn, to experience.
But that wasn't why I put this film on the blog. With the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, now more than ever, the Martin Scorsese directed piece seems relevant. Here we have the young orphan, Hugo Cabret, living in the train station and maintaining the clocks; the timepieces that make the trains, and presumably society, run on time. Those horological machines are human made and what time represents in the lives of humans is a constant tick tock, tick tock. With every beat of our heart, every breath taken, time passes.
Hugo senses this, as does his young friend, Isabelle. At one point in the film, Isabelle questions the future and what her purpose in life is to be. Hugo thinks for a moment and remarks:
"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."
And during their conversation, Hugo also states:
"Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do… Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose… it's like you're broken."
Turning that scene over in my mind and thinking about the plot (w/o spoiling too much, it is a wonderful homage to humans and art and film and history and human connections) and the ongoing strikes...but...
How is it that we humans have so readily turned the machines into the masters and the humans who created them into the extra parts?
This marvelous film would be nothing without the humans who dreamed and created and built and moved and loved it into being along with the original work upon which it was based. The humans aren't broken, the system is. The studios/corporations must recognize the labor that gives purpose to our lives and place the technology in the place wherein it serves the greater good before time runs out.
I could contemplate this film and its themes for a long time, it is a real gem to view and think about in the context of the past, the present, and the future. Hats off to all involved.
Capturing Dreams
If the studios persist with their endeavors to disregard humans in favor of machines and the pursuit of profit for the few and paucity for the rest, get used to *The Sound Of Silence, for the synergy will be lost and we'll be alone...with our machines.
An earlier post of mine talked about the lovely film, Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese and its relevance in relation to the ongoing WGA & SAG-AFTRA strikes and continuing in that vein, here's an additional thought or two:
A scene from the film has Isabelle, (pictured above-played by the actress Chloe Grace Moretz) reading to lead Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) an excerpt from a book, The Invention of Dreams.
"The filmmaker Georges Méliès was one of the first to realize that - films had the power - to capture dreams."
While Georges Méliès was a real person; if I recall correctly, the book title was created by author, Brian Selznick, who wrote the original novel from which the movie screenplay was adapted. Apparently there is now a group for writers that takes its name from that fictitious book included in both the novel and the film.
The word synergy is likely overused as a buzzword these days, but it seems apt here. Selznick's writing, Scorcese's direction, actors acting, filmgoers, the writing group mentioned above, and it expands ever outward. The numbers of people involved in this creative output are tied together in so many ways and so many dreams, some of which are yet to be realized. Film technology has changed since the 1930s setting of the story, without a doubt-- but machines cannot be allowed to replace the dreamers, the storytellers, the actors, the humans who labor to capture these dreams.
*The Sound Of Silence (1964, written by Paul Simon; performed by Simon & Garfunkel; Columbia).
Crisis: a perspective
The news that AMPTP has hired The Levinson Group isn't exactly a surprise. The PR agency is, after all, a top firm in crisis management, as many articles related. However, it is telling that what the AMPTP considers a crisis is their image and not workers being unable to pay their rents, mortgages, or qualify for health insurance among other things.
You want to know what makes for a good image? Being a good listener. Being compassionate. Seeing humans as humans and treating them that way. Recognizing that labor needs safe working conditions and fair wages. Cooperation comes before corporation in the dictionary and together, the artists and technicians working with studios have created magic for fans of their works. If a PR agency tries to convince the public that the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA members are the ones being uncooperative in their asks, I would suggest they consider that the public's perspective of what constitutes a crisis is a lot closer to what the strikers are facing than that for which the executives are hiring a spin doctor to heal.
Hi Mr. Gaiman, I've seen a few tweets and posts about not crossing the picket line for the WGA strike but nothing actually explaining what that entails for this strike? Is it not watching streaming services since that's one of the main issues? All tv? TV and movies? only new stuff or reruns too?
No, it's to not cross the picket lines literally. If there's a writers guild picket in place, you don't cross it. (But you can always join it -- especially if you are in LA or NYC.)
The WGA hasn't called for a boycott of streaming services or TV or anything like that, and until and unless they do I wouldn't push for that.
What the WGA would like is for people to make their support for the writers clear and loud -- write to the networks you watch on and tell them to treat their writers fairly, post your support on every social media outlet you can. Let the producers know that public opinion is against them.
"oh no what will I do without my favorite shows?" "how am I supposed to function without new content immediately all the time?" ""the writers are being so selfish what about MY show?" "what about MY mental health and MY comfort characters?"
This. Isn't. About. YOU.
your childish and insatiable desire for more content and bigger content all the time is a captialist need that has been bred into you and is borderline addictive behavior. didnt any of you ever read the lorax? its not JUST about trees and industrialization but mental and creative industry too. it's a story about a mindset; biggering and biggering.
grow up and read a book. i bet you wont even finish the odyssey before the strike is over. and i bet you wont be so thrilled about the idea of AI after reading Frankenstein.
LA's environmentalist lawyers pulling up to Universal:
Strike is on. Actors will be joining the writers on the picket lines. This is the first strike in 60 years for SAG, and essentially shuts down the entire US film and television industry.
“If this hurts my shows I’m gonna riot” “they better not cancel my favorite show” “this is so selfish I NEED this show” “what about my mental health now that they—“
So you agree. Show-writers are important to you and to the industry and should be compensated accordingly for their important work.
Imagine actually being so evil that you'd rather make sure your writers suffer financially instead of just paying them the pay they deserve. Hell truly has some seats reserved already, holy shit.
Lisa Edelstein protesting with the writers of House MD in the 2007 WGA strike