As we know, the current WGA and SAG-ATFRA strikes are now many weeks old and showing no signs of ending. Many movie studios are quietly preparing for these strikes to stretch until the end of the year at least. Big releases are being moved, productions remain paused. This is now starting to be felt at every level within the industry.
One of the best things about knocking about with you fine Outposters, here at LMO, is the sheer variety of people who make up this little online community. Several of our Ouposters are involved at various levels in the entertainment industry itself. In a conversation with one of them, they shared what it really feels like to work in this field right now.
In their opinion, this is what the massed ranks of standard employees are saying about the strikes. They don’t hold back, and we share this with you anonymously to give you an alternative view to what you may see in the trades:
“These strikes are not popular outside the ranks of WGA and SAG (and especially WGA), who’ve shown no urgency to end it and seem to have this idea that they can picket for a living. They’re already talking solidarity with IATSE “when they strike” next year, as if the industry can possibly tolerate yet ANOTHER extended work stoppage on the heels of this one, which is on the heels of the Covid shutdowns.
There are countless below-the-line people who never had any say or vote in any of this (or aren’t unionized at all) but are nonetheless losing their savings and homes because Rachel Zegler decided she deserved to be paid for every instance of someone streaming her ugly mug on Disney+.
The writers DESERVE to be replaced by AI after this, they offer no value at all and the AI could do their jobs with no noticeable difference in quality. The actors are too stupid to even really know why they’re out there, except that they were egged on by the writers. Hitchcock was right about them.
Everyone else wants these stupid fucks to come back to reality and make a deal so we can go back to work.”
So there you have it. A point of view directly from the coalface.
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