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Writers Go On Strike And Of Course They Write The 30 Most Hilarious Signs For The Occasion
Yall have seen that guy with the glorious hair holding up a sign saying something like “yes, grandma, I’m still single,” right? Not just me?
Picket signs like that are a great way to raise awareness about something that people are struggling with, allowing people to express their frustrations in funny and biting ways.
And who could do it better than peeps whose jobs it is to write for a living?
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I would upvote it 1000 times if I could only for the reference
If you were as woefully uneducated about this a short while ago as I was, let me clue you in about the strike itself. These are Hollywood writers, represented by the Writers Guild Of America (WGA), striking for fair compensation for their work, especially for streaming content.
On the other side of the barricade, we have the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who represent various media companies and have flat-out denied most of WGA’s requests.
The strike was started only after negotiations failed, with some really pitiful counter-offers, so the WGA Union members voted to strike.
What this means is that WGA members cannot write for AMPTP companies during the strike, as a show of solidarity in an attempt to deprive the companies of content until they run out of entertainment to provide and are therefore forced to renegotiate terms with the guild.
And when we say that the writers want “fair compensation”, we really do mean it. For example, Valentina Garza, writer for many popular shows, from The Simpsons to Wednesday, shares a streaming residual check for two episodes of Jane the Virgin.
Apparently she got $0.01 for one episode and $0.02 for another, which the streamers rerun constantly.
Furthermore, according to Associated Press, when accounting for inflation, writer-producer pay has decreased about 23%, with 14% of the decline happening during the last 5 years.
Fun fact: if the minimum wage of $1.60/hour in 1960 had kept up with corporate profits per capita, even in the 2009 recession, it would have been about $15/hour. In the early days of the pandemic, it would have been about $28/hour. As of 2022, it would be closer to $50/hour.
Besides pay, writers want better residuals, with writers like Valentina pointing out the pathetic numbers she receives. And just in case you’re wondering, residuals are similar to royalties, but while royalties are paid out by your contractor, residuals are collectively negotiated by unions.
According to Quora answers, royalties also stay the same, while residuals reduce from 100% to 10%, for example.
That is some of the best writing I have had the pleasure of listening to. It makes me squirm because I knew those kind of people, it's so accurate. Great writing isn't words, its manipulating emptions by truly understanding characters and having the ability to emulate them. Far smarter than actors and I love actors.
THB, they coulda gave me warning about Logan. I miss the old SOB and cry at McDonald's commercials now.
As for increases in pay, WGA is striving to establish a new minimum for writer-producers. Variety explains that currently the minimum for everyone above staff writer is $7,412 per week.
The guild seeks that everyone at the level of co-producer, producer, and above get a minimum pay 25% higher than the story editor tier.
The AMPTP was willing to create a new tier, but with a minimum of 2-7% above the story editor level.
Who read that as Grace Condom. Or am I the only dirty minded weirdo
"I like words. Do you like words? I write for a living, can't you tell??"
The WGA strike is gaining momentum, with many other unions joining in to support them, including the Producers Guild Of America, NYC musicians union, the Australian Writers’ Guild, the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, and the Writers Guild Of Canada joining in, if the AMPTP attempts to look for writing talent abroad.
The strike has started on May 2 and shows no signs of stopping until the WGA’s demands are met.
Quinta Brunson of the hilarious show, Abbott Elementry is spot on as usual.
Jenn Ortega needs to live a little and experience some failure before ripping the people who are there to help her succeed.
if you are going to make a reference from tv then try: We're not the Gilmore Girls, we can't survive on coffee alone. We need fair pay too! (written by chatgpt, lol)
Writers build the foundations of the shows we all love and cherish. Without a decent script it doesn't matter if you hire the best actors or directors in the world. It's just trash. Completely ridiculous that these talented people don't get paid properly.
swap out writers with workers, and actors and directors with sales and managers and it sums up pretty much everything
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I really don't understand this whole "A.I." thing; As students, we are always being told that we should work extra hard to write our own, original stuff and not just trawl the web, copying a sentence from here, half a paragraph from there; and yet, when we finally get out into the Big, Bad Business World, we are being openly encouraged to De facto plagiarize anything that's ever been written by anyone and somehow found its way onto the internet, to our hearts content!?
I listened to an AI generated audio drama recently. Actually I started but turned it off 5 or so minutes I'm. It was so bad with normal conversation that it was jarring and unbearable. Please suck it up and pay the writers. The last time this happened reality shows exploded as a consequence of not having writers. I don't think I can stomach an explosion of whatever AI comes up with.
You missed Michael Jamin’s sign. It was THE BEST. It read, “YOU WRITE THE DAMN SIGN. I'M ON STRIKE”
I don't know how many of you will remember, but we went through this exact same thing in the 1990s! Yes, a Hollywood writers strike. I can't believe it's happening again. The studios never learn.
I agree about Hollywood quality but its not the writers who choose what programs and films get made.
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It’s not 52 weeks a year, though. It’s a constant hustle to find the next gig. So sure, $7,500 per week May seem like a lot. But not if it’s only 5 to 6 weeks out of the year… And on the same shows/movies, the cast, crew, and especially the producers make TRIPLE that!
Load More Replies...
Writers build the foundations of the shows we all love and cherish. Without a decent script it doesn't matter if you hire the best actors or directors in the world. It's just trash. Completely ridiculous that these talented people don't get paid properly.
swap out writers with workers, and actors and directors with sales and managers and it sums up pretty much everything
Load More Replies... I really don't understand this whole "A.I." thing; As students, we are always being told that we should work extra hard to write our own, original stuff and not just trawl the web, copying a sentence from here, half a paragraph from there; and yet, when we finally get out into the Big, Bad Business World, we are being openly encouraged to De facto plagiarize anything that's ever been written by anyone and somehow found its way onto the internet, to our hearts content!?
I listened to an AI generated audio drama recently. Actually I started but turned it off 5 or so minutes I'm. It was so bad with normal conversation that it was jarring and unbearable. Please suck it up and pay the writers. The last time this happened reality shows exploded as a consequence of not having writers. I don't think I can stomach an explosion of whatever AI comes up with.
You missed Michael Jamin’s sign. It was THE BEST. It read, “YOU WRITE THE DAMN SIGN. I'M ON STRIKE”
I don't know how many of you will remember, but we went through this exact same thing in the 1990s! Yes, a Hollywood writers strike. I can't believe it's happening again. The studios never learn.
I agree about Hollywood quality but its not the writers who choose what programs and films get made.
Load More Replies... It’s not 52 weeks a year, though. It’s a constant hustle to find the next gig. So sure, $7,500 per week May seem like a lot. But not if it’s only 5 to 6 weeks out of the year… And on the same shows/movies, the cast, crew, and especially the producers make TRIPLE that!
Load More Replies...