Chapman community reflects on state of WGA, SAG-AFTRA strike
Chapman class of 2023 graduates, along with those from previous years, attended a May WGA strike in solidarity with current members of the guild. Photo courtesy of David Rambo
Days after graduating from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, screenwriting alumnus Grant Peters stood amongst the striking members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) outside of Universal Studios. Although the theme of the picket was Taylor Swift, Peters and his peers chose to make a different kind of fashion statement and wear their graduation robes.
The robes were worn to signify to the current WGA members that the next wave of creatives stood with them in their endeavor to seek fair compensation for their work. Throughout the day, Peters encountered a multitude of Chapman alumni, ranging from one to 12 years in the industry — all of whom offered words of encouragement.
“We were there to support everyone else,” Peters told The Panther. “The grad robes were just to try and catch people's eyes. But the amount of support and all the reassuring comments that we got from all of the writers… They were so inspirational and comforting. It made it feel like if we stuck through this together right now, everything (will) be all right.”
The first day of the fall 2023 semester marked 118 days since the WGA went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on May 2 in pursuit of equitable treatment in the streaming era. On July 13, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) declared that they, too, would be striking against the AMPTP, marking the first dual strike between the two guilds since 1960. Celebrities such as Amy Adams, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, Florence Pugh and Kerry Washington have all been spotted on the picket lines supporting their fellow creatives.
Prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, screenwriting professor and WGA member Brianna Brown participated in a small rapid-response team that would picket and shut down film sets — no matter the commute or time of day. Brown told The Panther that she was ecstatic the day that the SAG-AFTRA announced they would be striking alongside the WGA.
Chapman screenwriting professor Brianna Brown (pictured middle) is a member of the WGA and was part of a small rapid-response team tasked with picketing at film production locations. Photo courtesy of Brianna Brown
“Best day of my life,” Brown said. “One thing we (writers) know for sure is that when actors are involved, that’s when the ball drops. Now, there’s really no crossing the line. The actors, for the most part, have been on the line with us. It’s a great feeling because, for the first time in the history of probably both of our guilds, I feel like we’re on the same page on the basics of survival.”
While there have been no talks of negotiation between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP, the WGA was presented with a counteroffer on Aug. 11. However, when they sat down to meet, the WGA claims, “we were met with a lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was.”
“...This wasn’t a meeting to make a deal,” the WGA Negotiating Committee sent out in an update. “This was a meeting to get us to cave, which is why, not twenty minutes after we left the meeting, the AMPTP released its summary of their proposals. This was the companies’ plan from the beginning – not to bargain, but to jam us. It is their only strategy – to bet that we will turn on each other.”
Brown told The Panther that she has full faith in the negotiating committee to work in the writer’s best interest.
“I trust our guild, and I know that they’re not going to bend to the point of breaking. They’re not going to bend to the point of sacrificing everything that we've worked for,” Brown said. “This is not new to them. It's all really down to whether these companies are willing to meet the demands. I can't imagine that about .1% of your overall yearly budget is really worth all of this, especially since so many of these companies have lost more than they would have lost if they just met our man our demands originally.”
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA have their respective list of demands that carry a significant amount of overlap, including an increase in wages, increased length of employment and protection against artificial intelligence. The streaming landscape means that both actors and writers alike are unable to rely on network royalties and maintain consistent work with shorter seasons of television.
Brown told The Panther that despite being hired as a staff writer on NBC’s “Superstore” almost directly after graduating from Chapman, that didn’t equate to livable wages.
“The fact of the matter is that you just cannot survive in Los Angeles or any major city as a working writer,” Brown said. “The biggest thing at the end of the day is you ask yourself: ‘How in the world have I consistently been working at major networks from the moment I graduated, and I’m still living paycheck to paycheck?’ If you are just one emergency away from bankruptcy, it is just not a sustainable workforce.”
“The fact of the matter is that you just cannot survive in Los Angeles or any major city as a working writer. The biggest thing at the end of the day is you ask yourself: ‘How in the world have I consistently been working at major networks from the moment I graduated, and I’m still living paycheck to paycheck?’ If you are just one emergency away from bankruptcy, it is just not a sustainable workforce.”
Despite having a couple of years before entering the industry, junior screen acting major Wyatt Tithof expressed his frustrations about the state of the industry for actors.
“It's disheartening that actors and performers alike aren’t being compensated for their likeness adequately, and that’s been really frustrating to hear as someone whose aspiring profession is to be an actor,” Tithof said. “(The strike) is the mold. It’s shaping the clay of the future of the industry we’re going to be in. It’s hard enough as it is to get a job in the industry as an actor. I think that it’s really important for all these film-related artists because this is the future of the industry that we’re going into. I hope some changes happen that will result in us being paid fairly.”
While Brown shares the same frustration as Tithof, she told The Panther that getting out on the picket line alleviated some of her stress. As a professor of film students, Brown keeps an open line of communication and encourages all of her students to attend a picket since locations are posted on the WGA website.
“I was devastated at first (about the strike), but once I got to the line, I looked around and (saw) there were hundreds of us,” Brown said. “We’re so not alone. We’ve all been confined to these Zoom rooms for so long that it’s rewarding to really feel our solidarity and really feel like we’re not alone. There are thousands of us on these lines every day, and we’re all on the same page. Every time I hit the picket line, I leave feeling better than when I got there.”
Peters’ opportunities to break into the film industry may be on pause at the moment, but he’s gained a pivotal perspective change that he hopes all Chapman students keep in mind as they walk the stage at their commencement ceremony.
“I think for everyone who is currently at Chapman… there's this grand idea that you're gonna get out of school, and you're gonna make it big,” Peters said. “But if this strike has taught me anything, it's that you have to stick together.”
“The studios, as they are currently operating, are just trying to make money, and they're just going to try and get every dollar that they can out of you, and at a certain point, it's not about the art. But for every writer and for every artist who's currently struggling out there, you just can't give up. You’ve got to stick together. It is about the art.”
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA’s list of demands, picketing schedules and strike assistance resources are available on their respective websites.
