“Picketing Disney Is More Fun Than Writing a ‘Star Wars’ Movie”: Scribes Mark 100 Days of the Strike

Lesley Goldberg
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Resolve and solidarity were the common refrains Wednesday as writers marked the grim 100-day milestone in the Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike against Hollywood’s studios and streamers. Joined on the picket line by the similarly striking performers union, SAG-AFTRA, caffeinated scribes celebrated the two unions’ collective resolve on the day that WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser called “an anniversary of shame for the AMPTP.”

Eric Robbins (Star Trek: Discovery), the lot coordinator at Disney, said the atmosphere Wednesday was positive, noting that the 100-day marker “rejuvenated and really invigorated” writers to return to the picketing, which he said “pumped a lot of lifeblood into the line.” After Friday’s meeting between the WGA and AMPTP yielded no signs of when both sides would return to the bargaining table, he said scribes have “as much passion and as much solidarity as we did on day one.”

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Robbins was referring to the so-called “talks about talking” meeting Friday between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild executives to discuss if there was a path back to restart negotiations. The WGA said in a briefing to members afterward that the AMPTP is offering the 11,000-member WGA the same deal that the DGA ratified on pattern issues and increases on a few writer-specific TV minimums. Scribes have since voiced their frustration with the AMPTP’s unwillingness to engage on such core issues as the minimum size of writers rooms or success-based residuals, among other topics. (The AMPTP has not commented on the meeting.)

Showrunner Damon Lindelof walked the humid picket line outside Disney in Burbank with Justin Britt-Gibson — the two were recently fired off a Star Wars movie they had been scripting for Disney-owned Lucasfilm — and shared that they both feel a new sense of resolve. “Ninety-nine days of steps under my belt and I don’t know if there’s any end in sight, but I’m feeling good, strong, convinced and unified,” said Lindelof. “Justin and I wrote a Star Wars movie together and picketing Disney is a lot more fun than writing a Star Wars movie,” said the Lost and Watchmen creator. Added Britt-Gibson: “This will not be in vain. This will be done so we have a better future for writers, for actors, for everybody out here on the line. … Strike the Empire back!”

Organizers for the writers guild and performers union SAG-AFTRA said the turnout for Day 100 at Disney was greater than recent days as the milestone brought folks out who had taken a breather amid summer’s soaring temperatures, many of whom enjoyed free churros and coffee Wednesday. Nearby at Warner Bros., a Louisiana-style jazz band played alongside picketers, who also found respite via a massage chair between laps of the studio gates.

At Radford Studio Center (formerly CBS Radford) in Studio City, music including Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” blared near the main entrance, where the WGA recently won the right to picket after the unions filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board.

Chris Kuna, a writer on Star Trek: Lower Decks, said he was committed to picketing for as long as it takes to get a fair deal and felt like he could do “100 more” days. “They are waiting for us to show a break or some infighting, but if anything, it feels like there’s more and more resolve,” he noted. “Spirits may lag, but whenever they do something stupid  — like the [Disney CEO Bob] Iger interview or that fruitless meeting last Friday where it was clearly just a ploy — it doesn’t make us go, ‘OK, let’s settle.’ It makes us dig our heels more. I don’t care if I ever work again; we’re going to get this fucking deal.”

Ethan Peck, the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star who is the grandson of Hollywood royalty Gregory Peck, felt “pissed” that writers and performers were having to strike to be treated fairly. “When I come out here, this anger falls over me. There is major exploitation occurring, which is what we’re out here to combat, protest and reject. It really needs to change,” he said. “The income disparity is too great; it’s like that in most industries across the country. We’re fortunate to be able to organize like this and have unions that stand up for us and allow us to do this.”

On the other side of the hill at Netflix, the picket line started with chants of “100 days longer! 100 days stronger!” as strikers made the loop along L.A.’s bustling Sunset Boulevard. Compared with early days of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, Netflix’s line was not nearly as busy, but the energy inspired by the 100-day marker helped to buoy any perceivable lull. Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” blasted from a speaker outside the streamer’s gate, and picketers walked the line with “100” painted on their faces while newly made signs read “100 days stronger.” One strike captain pointed his megaphone toward Netflix’s offices and proclaimed, “We can do this for 200 days.”

At Disney, Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington joined writers from the ABC medical drama on the picket line Wednesday and expressed hope that both strikes — the first dual union work stoppage in Hollywood since 1960 — would end “sooner rather than later.” Grey’s scribe Julie Wong pointed to recent earnings calls in which conglomerates including Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount reported an increase in cash flow as spending on scripted films and movies has ground to a standstill. “We know the money is there … and we know they can pay us; it’s just a matter of them deciding to give us a fair deal.”

Former Black Lightning star Cress Williams hit the picket line at Disney with his family and said reconnecting with old friends helped deflect the exhaustion. While the 160,000-member performers union has been on strike since July 14, many actors have shown support for writers since the WGA strike began in May. Williams, who said he voted against the last SAG-AFTRA contract, felt this strike was a long time coming. “It’s great this time around to see our leaders addressing these issues,” he said. “These issues were forgotten, or they had gotten pushed under the table and we had taken a lot of deals that I didn’t think were acceptable … so to see that they’re finally addressing these issues is inspiring.”

Actor John Michael Huggins (Pitch Perfect) said it felt “odd” to be picketing at Disney, outside of buildings where he has regularly worked during his career, and felt it was his “duty” to participate in the strike. “It’s absolutely essential that we are on the same page as the people that we work with, and that’s why I’m out here,” he said. “The minute streaming showed up, we knew it was a boondoggle of some sort, and we kept kicking the can down the road, and now finally the chickens have come home to roost. It’s been a long time in the wings, and now we’re onstage, so let’s do it.”

The WGA last went out on strike in 2007-08. The work stoppage lasted 100 days, with the guild and AMPTP resuming negotiations after 20-odd days. While the Directors Guild of America members ratified its contract with the AMPTP, many of that union’s deal points do not address issues the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have labeled core, including success-based residuals from streaming.

“This is not a fun time to be in the arts,” actor Jack Quaid (Oppenheimer, The Boys) said from the picket line at Warner Bros. in Burbank. “I’m out here for people who live paycheck to paycheck.”

Borys Kit and Mia Galuppo contributed reporting.

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