“Once your agency is again in good standing with the Writers Guild,” our letters read, “we can reestablish our relationship.”, I have no doubt that the big machers in our guild, showrunners such as Shonda Rhimes and J. J. Abrams, will have little trouble “reestablishing” their relationships. (back in the bad old days of four networks and no streaming or cable - and by that i mean “the nineties” - you literally could count on the fact that if you didn’t have a job by the first week of june you were pretty much fucked for the next twelve months), 12 years ago I got my first pilot made. Also I know all this stuff feels insidery but I hope actions like this one ultimately help people in other industries take down the capitalist structures that are syphoning money and power away from the workers. Sharp Objects writers Ariella Blejer and Dawn Kamoche were of the same union-or-bust mind, despite much love for their agent. In 1960 the guild went on strike for health benefits. My agent asked me to meet with a prominent writer-producer, also a UTA client, whose shows I disliked. I've been on a number of committees for the WGA now and I constantly find myself asking people and myself how the very people who are the heart of an industry constantly find themselves treated like we're expendable. (During a three-month writers’ strike in 2007, the studios and networks similarly used the occasion to clean their development slates of long-standing and languishing projects. Others joined in, because, well, white supremacists suck. So I arrived before my set was picketed by my fellow writers. I was a mess. Digital streaming networks, such as Netflix, Amazon, and the upcoming Disney+, pay the same WGA minimums as traditional studios and networks; that arrangement was won by the strike in 2007. What will happen to me, a workaday writer, on the other side of the WGA mess? I picketed my own show for three hours until my fellow writers went home and I went back to work for fear of being sued. I heard one such showrunner most vociferously decry the WGA’s brinkmanship; he warned a room full of more junior writers that we would be the ones who would end up paying the price for what he termed “the WGA’s belligerence.”. Thousands of WGA members and supporters marched during the 2007 strike. What does WGA stand for? ), I had finished my fourth season on staff and was looking for a job. It's like hearing a champion marathon runner constantly talk shit about their heart as if they think they could win more races without it. i dont even pretend to understand any of it. #̷̧̢̼̤͈̼̫̋̾Q̸̼͔͕̗͚̟̉̄̄͝a̷̞̗̺̐̔̚ṇ̶̨̢̦͚͚̜͇̯̉̓̑̉̏͋̕͝ö̴̡̟̥͔̟̞̯̠̳́ͅṇ̵̫̭͔̈́̓͆̄̈́̋̈́̓͘͠ fuck your racism and your hashtag pic.twitter.com/jYqPzsHn9C, FUCK RACISTS FUCK WHITE SUPREMACISTS. One issue is their practice of charging studios for “packaging” fees, rather than taking the traditional 10 percent commission from their writers. How to explain such a contradiction of the basic laws of economics and the WGA’s argument? "Report from the battle: Autonomous #OpFanCam troops have begun a blitzkrieg on the #Qanon hashtag in retaliation for spreading false information and anti Black Lives Matter messages. At 3 pm I left video village and joined my fellow writers on the picket line. Jeremy sent a congratulatory telegram to me in New York the night of my first show taping. In other words, they negotiated against their economic self-interest. Last week, I completed my 20th week of a 20-week contract as executive story editor on an upcoming Netflix show: the live-action reboot of the anime series Cowboy Bebop. This theory allegedly started out in a 4chan group by a member who claimed he had "classified documents" that proved "liberal Hollywood" and other agents are working against Trump and are part of "deep state." We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com. Literally NOTHING can happen that generates money and no one can do anything until there's a script either written or sold. The current dispute between the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the trade union representing screenwriters, and the Association of Talent Agents (ATA), the professional association of Hollywood talent agents, comes down to the business models of the Big 4 agencies: WME, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), International Creative Management Partners (ICMP), and United Talent Agency (UTA). I can’t. The agencies make the majority of their income from a few clients. Then, this past weekend, the WGA told us to sign form letters informing our agents that they no longer represented us. QAnon believes there is some kind of evil plot "deep state" has working against Trump and Trump supporters. Make it clear I’m ready for that work! Report from the battle: Autonomous #OpFanCam troops have begun a blitzkrieg on the #Qaṇöṇ hashtag in retaliation for spreading false information and anti Black Lives Matter messages. Troops are requested to target the following fascist tags as well:- #Qanon- #WWG1WGA. Most of us like our agents. Will we? Y’ALL ARE SHIT STAINS #̷̧̢̼̤͈̼̫̋̾Q̸̼͔͕̗͚̟̉̄̄͝a̷̞̗̺̐̔̚ṇ̶̨̢̦͚͚̜͇̯̉̓̑̉̏͋̕͝ö̴̡̟̥͔̟̞̯̠̳́ͅṇ̵̫̭͔̈́̓͆̄̈́̋̈́̓͘͠ pic.twitter.com/KLuw0ui0Jr. “I think we … A1(pt2): With showrunners, I’ll ask show questions & questions based on my exec meeting, but also what they expect of their writers, how they like to run their room, what they think the biggest challenge of breaking the series will be, etc. Working television writers and screenwriters, unlike freelance writers in most other mediums, receive generous health benefits (though hardly gold-plated as the studios claimed during the last near-strike, in 2017) and can qualify for a pension. “Just take the meeting,” said my agent. Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features! I immediately wondered whether I would survive such a culling of the herd. During negotiations, the WGA asked agencies to sign code-of-conduct letters forbidding packaging and producing. On Twitter, numerous writers spoke out against the evils of packaging and the blue I Stand with the WGA button began to trend, at least among those I follow. QAnon members use the hashtag #WWG1WGA (which means Where We Go One, We Go All) to unify.