Yahoo News Writers Weigh in on Upcoming Negotiations at Guild Awards: “You Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst”
Writers discussed their thoughts and concerns about their union’s upcoming negotiations — and its potential to trigger the entertainment industry’s first major strike in over 15 years — at the 2023 Writers Guild Awards ceremonies on Sunday night.
Nominees and winners alike discussed a potential work stoppage once the Writers Guild of America’s current contract with studios and streamers expires May 1 at the dual ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. In L.A., show host Janelle James got right to it in her opening monologue, joking that the ceremony was both an awards gathering and a “strike authorization vote,” and that if writers put down their pencils, they could “use any of that downtime to come up with movies starring Janelle James.” (If talks between studios and streamers and the union do break down after bargaining begins on March 20, the guild could call a strike authorization vote.)
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Later in the West Coast ceremony, Women Talking helmer and adapted screenplay winner Sarah Polley drew connections between her film’s message and the upcoming talks in her acceptance speech. Saying that the film’s story (based on the novel by Miriam Toews) was about “collective action” and “envisioning and taking responsibility for the possibilities of a better future,” she added, “That is the job of a union, and I wish everyone in this room courage and hope and solidarity for the months ahead as a potential strike comes into view.”
Everything Everywhere All at Once co-director Daniel Kwan, winning for original screenplay, told attendees that the night’s event had been a call to action and lauded the Guild as “an example of what’s possible when people stick together.” Dedicating the award to WGA members, he then exhorted scribes to “get involved” with the union during the upcoming negotiations and told them, “Let’s go give them hell.”
In accepting the TV and new media motion pictures award for Honor Society, former WGA West president and current negotiating committee co-chair David A. Goodman thanked his peers for “everything you do for this industry and for each other.” He also quoted the WGA’s former chief negotiator and the Western branch’s current executive director David Young: “We may be small, but we’re alone,” to laughter in the room. Young stepped back from the top negotiation job this year as he took medical leave; assistant executive director Ellen Stutzman is stepping in in his place.
When asked about the pivotal negotiations on the red carpet, scribes offered diverse views on how the latest contract cycle might go, as well as on how they felt about the guild’s key issues for the negotiations. Amber Ruffin, one of the Late Night With Seth Meyers writers nominated for comedy/variety talk series, said she was “hopeful” thanks to timing she believes will work in the guild’s favor. Employers, she said, “want to get this stuff [films and TV series] ready for the fall and everybody will be delayed and I think that’s our strongest negotiation point.” WGA East president and negotiating committee member Michael Winship, meanwhile, struck a more cautious tone: “I can’t make any kind of prediction at this point [about a strike]. You hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” he said.
Weighing in on the union’s “pattern of demands” — a list of broad objectives that leaders draft for negotiations, which were sent to members for a vote on Feb. 27 — drama series nominee Tony Gilroy (Andor) said, “There’s probably a couple things I wish were in there that aren’t; there’s probably some things in there that I don’t understand that are very valuable.” He added, “There are a lot of different disciplines and a lot of different things that build the guild now, so there are separate constituencies and different groups that need to be taken care of at different times.”
Fellow Andor nominee Stephen Schiff called the pattern of demands “right on the money” and said he intended to support them in voting “yes.” He added, “We’re all very nervous; we’re all worried. No one wants a strike. We hope that we can cooperate with management and believe that they can cooperate with us.” Members’ deadline to vote on the pattern of demands is Tuesday.
When the guild heads into negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) later this month, union leaders are expected to prioritize regulating “mini-rooms” and allocating more of projects’ budgets to writers in talks. The union has been updating members about its top priorities in meetings that began last month.
The Writers Guild Awards took place on the West Coast at Fairmont Century Plaza, while the East Coast show was set at the Edison Ballroom.
Hilary Lewis and Kirsten Chuba contributed to this report.
