Anonymous Strike Diary: The ‘Well-Known Creator’ Slams DGA Dealmaking
Part of a series of accounts from striking Hollywood writers at different levels in their careers. The diarists have been granted anonymity to encourage candor. You can read previous entries by ‘Well-Known Creator’ and others here.
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In addition to being a member of the WGA, I am also a member of the DGA and SAG-AFTRA. (Yes, this means I get all the screeners during the holidays. And yes, it also means I am pretty much insufferable.) The announcement this week that the Fran Drescher-led SAG-AFTRA turned in a Strike Authorization Vote percentage that eclipsed even that of the WGA surprised me deeply, and not only because, well, it’s the kind of guild that is led by people like Fran Drescher. No knock on the Nanny, but the actors who historically want to run their union tend to not be the giants in the field, but rather people like Andrea from Beverly Hills, 90210, Mr. Feeney from Boy Meets World, or even lighter-weights like Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan.
But on closer examination, it made sense, because actors, except for the elite few, have even less power in this town than writers (which is saying something!) and their marginalization and ill-treatment at the hands of our corporate overloads has been perhaps even more extreme than what writers have faced. (Also, the percentages of SAG-AFTRA guild members who report earnings every quarter are far lower than those of the WGA, so perhaps some of them have a little extra time on their hands and even less to lose.) It is heartening — and it stands to reason — that when given the rare opportunity to demonstrate collective strength after a brutal period of COVID restrictions, rampant inflation, the increased burden of self-taping for auditions, decreased residuals, the growing threat of AI taking their jobs, and, of course, drafting off the considerable momentum of the WGA strike, that a near unanimity of actors jumped at the opportunity. And not to generalize, but marching around and chanting sounds like something actors might be a wee bit more built for than us pasty, anti-social scribes.
So what the fuck is up with the DGA? No one but a select handful know what the newly-announced “historic” tentative three-year deal really holds, and naturally this is on purpose. But from my biased and limited perspective, it appears that while the WGA has been extremely upfront and communicative with its membership, the DGA has not.
The WGA has put transparency, or at least the credible appearance thereof, at the heart of their strategy in rallying the base, with numerous meetings and Powerpoints, explainer videos and almost daily emails. Contrast that to: I have no fucking clue what is important to the DGA, or how their philosophy actually differs from the reputation as deeply self-interested negotiators who time and time again position themselves as “the adults in the room,” make a quick deal with the AMPTP, and leave it to the rest of the town to negotiate in their wake. And while I’m sure Lesli Linka Glatter and Russell Hollander and Jon Avnet and the rest would roll their eyes at my characterization, isn’t the mere fact that one (if not many) of its members feels this way, at least a little bit problematic? And even if it isn’t, at a game theory level, problematic, might the fact that I am seriously considering voting No on the new contract, on principal alone, a problem that they could have solved with more transparency or at the least some communication? What would it cost the DGA leadership to have a membership meeting quickly (not two weeks after announcing a tentative contract), or at least an email reassuring the membership that they are in control, that appearances are not what they seem, that this is going to be good for the entire industry, that they haven’t just snuck in while the writers and actors were in the ring or prepping to fight, and snatched the belt when no one was looking?
Or maybe I’m overthinking things and it’s far simpler than that. Maybe the directors really wanted to send that reassuring email to its membership that struck just the right tone between deferential and confident, but all the good writers were kinda busy at the moment.
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