WGAW's AAWC Turns Out in Force
To commemorate the gathering of WGAW's Asian American Writers Committee (AAWC) at the Disney Studios picket line Tuesday, AAWC Vice Chair Tracy Held came up with the idea of having supporters autograph a WGA strike sign. Very soon, it became apparent that to accommodate all of the signatures, the AAWC might need a substantially larger sign.
“Looking at our RSVP list, I was seeing 20 or 30 people,” noted AAWC Chair Kristina Woo as she surveyed the huge crowd of people. “But there are clearly way more than 30 members. There are also a lot AAPI writers and actors here.”
“May is AAPI Heritage Month,” continued Woo, who is also a strike captain typically assigned to Paramount Studios. “If we weren’t striking, the committee would have done a lot of events in our community. So we were just thinking, why not get everybody out together. Our community has been craving that.”
The committee often conducts panels highlighting issues within the Asian American community or to spotlight writers of Asian-American descent.
“A lot of people don’t really understand that Asia is a really big place that encompasses a lot of different cultures and also the diaspora from all different countries spread all over the world,” said Held. “Trying to get people to understand how big and diverse our community is can be a really big challenge.”
On Tuesday the AAWC shared the Disney picket lines with a large group from the Committee of Black Writers, which also mobilized members last week at Paramount, SAG-AFTRA members and other supporters. The AAWC also planned a second picket for Paramount Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s been really cool to see all the solidarity among all of the unions,” said Woo. “It’s exciting that SAG is here and that the Teamsters are standing arm-in-arm with us. I also think that, more generally speaking, the public groundswell of support for workers is really exciting. Maybe people don’t understand what our jobs are, but everyone can understand being underpaid, underappreciated and overworked. So the public support and the union solidarity has been really energizing for me.”
And about that sign? By the early afternoon, there was barely an inch of space for an additional signature. Among those adding their names were Jessica Gao (She-Hulk), Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow), Steve Joe (Young Sheldon), Nazrin Choudhury (Fear The Walking Dead), Keto Shimizu (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) and Monica Macer (Queen Sugar).
“It was nice because I felt like a number of showrunners from our community showed up even though this wasn’t their normal picket location,” said Held.
See Photos from Tuesday's Picket Lines
Nothing Will Jeopardize This Early Morning Picket
Since the WGA strike began on May 2, the eight writers of the long-running quiz show Jeopardy! have scattered across the more than 10 picket lines. But bright and early on Tuesday morning, the close-knit team arrived for a 6 a.m. picket at Sony Pictures.
“When we walk in front of the Motor gate, we can look over at Stage 10 and see the little red light going and going,” said Jim Rhine, a regular at the Sony line. “Oh, they’re taping our words! Normally, we would be on summer break and getting ready for Season 40, which would start production in August. We would be trying to get 100 shows ready, but now we’re out here, and gladly so.”
According to co-head writers Michele Loud and Billy Wisse, many people are unaware that the Jeopardy! writers are members of the WGA. They are, and they have been for decades. The WGA recognizes writers working in this genre in the “Quiz and Audience Participation” category of the annual Writers Guild Awards.
As devoted Guild members, the Jeopardy! writers recognize the importance of streaming residuals, the institutional problems of understaffing and the potential threat of unregulated AI.
“We want people to know that, yes, the words on the screen are written by eight wonderful beings with great creativity,” said Loud, who started as a researcher on Jeopardy! in 1993 before becoming a writer in 1997. “We are part of this.”
“We are part of the Hollywood community,” added Wisse. “Hopefully if America realizes that their beloved Jeopardy! is a Guild show, it will spread more affection to the Guild as well.
The group chose Tuesday for their picket because they knew it would be a taping day and they wanted their presence on the lines to be visible to their co-workers during the final week of filming. They expected more than 40 people for the early morning meeting.
“Usually when I get here, I’m the solo picketer. This is a very nice turnout for 6 a.m.,” said Loud. “We wanted to see our friends on the staff and crew and we wanted them to see us out here. We know they support us as much as they can.”
Like many of his team, Rhine has vivid recollections of the 2007-08 WGA strike. He recalls past instances of the studios crying poverty over revenue loss due to new technology-like cable or streaming-and therefore demanding that the writers accept less.
“So they need us to take less money and accept smaller rooms," said Rhine. "and this comes from the same guy who is making $239 million per year. Come on! So we’re here for the duration and for all the right reasons.”