Dispatches From The Picket Lines: Tourists Turn Demonstrators In L.A.; Shawn Ryan, Jon Huertas, Sandra Bernhard Talk Strikes

It’s Day 112 of the SAG-AFTRA strike and Day 84 of the WGA strike.

On a Monday that saw Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez join the picket lines in front of Warner Bros Discovery in New York, a mother and son became strike demonstrators Monday as both actors and writers picketed in front of Paramount in Los Angeles.

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The pair — Carol, in town from Vermont to visit her son Graham, who attends USC — arrived at the Melrose Avenue lot to take the studio’s guided tour. But when they arrived they saw the picket signs of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild, both unions on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over new film and TV contracts.

As the tour was about to begin, the two were asked by guides to enter but they declined to cross the picket line — and instead grabbed signs.

Their story got a shoutout by WGA organizers as the picketing came to a close at midday.

Other picketers seen at Paramount today included Jack Black.

At Fox Studios in Century City, more than 100 demonstrators picketed included Clark Gregg, who has been heartened to see “oozing solidarity and passion” amidst SAG-AFTRA and the WGA as a member of both groups.

In terms of the most distressing issues affecting the issue, Gregg pointed to “a very current American phenomenon” that has seen companies give undue focus to “hedge fund institutional shareholders” rather than to “their audience.” He acknowledged at the same time that companies find themselves in their own “tricky moment” as they are compelled “to figure out their own monetization.”

Also addressed by the actor, known for his work in a variety of Marvel projects, was the looming threat of AI. “I’m open to new technologies. I’m often excited by them, but you don’t get to turn me into megabytes of information that you can use whenever and however you would like,” said Gregg. “That’s not the nature of a partnership with an artist.”

Also on hand at Fox was This Is Us star Jon Huertas, who pointed to systemic issues with residuals, to the extent that “there are series regulars on some shows…that barely make a middle-class wage.” Among the issues at top of mind for the actor was the limited respect he feels background performers have frequently been met with, and the kinds of economic protections that they, like so many other actors, need. “I really feel that it’s one of the most important components of any production, is the background. It’s how we create a world and make it feel real,” said Huertas. “I feel like these are the people that make sometimes wages that are below the poverty line, especially in a town like L.A. where the cost of living is so high. So I’ve seen people questioning what they’re doing in life.”

Showrunner Shawn Ryan, attending a themed picket day celebrating his FX series The Shield and Timeless, hinted at the ways in which so-called “efficiencies” in the writers’ room have actually made the process therein and the ultimate product worse, highlighting the fact that he’s wielded his authority with the studio to maintain more old-school ways of doing business.

At Netflix in Los Angeles, the strike lines included Schitt’s Creek alum Jennifer Robertson, Patrick Fischler and Jo Bustamante, the latter recounting that she has worked on five productions since September but “I sleep in my car and go to a local gym to take a shower so I can be ready for an eight- to 12-hour day on the set.” She is particularly worried about AI:

Demonstrators at the streamer’s L.A. location today also saw the cast and crew of Netflix’s drama Queen of the South, along with series castmember Yancey Arias.

In New York, Sandra Bernhard joined the lines and talked about the strike action being part of a larger “tipping” of the world “environmentally and politically.”

Scott Shilstone and Natalie Sitek contributed to this report.

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