(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Members of the Writers Guild of America and other unions rallied in downtown Chicago Wednesday in solidarity with striking screenwriters.
The WGA strike, which began earlier this month, has been felt mostly on the East and West coasts, with union members demanding studios and content providers offer higher and more stable pay in a new era of streaming and emerging AI.
“Really what we're asking for is to share in the profits that we make and to make writing a sustainable career for the people that get to help make those shows,” WGA member Zayd Dohrn said during the demonstration outside Chicago’s NBC Tower.
Another writer, Libby Schreiner, who works on Stephen Colbert's "Tooning Out the News," said pay should reflect what writers to bring to TV.
"Writers are essential for good shows, for any show. If an actor is saying it, if a late-night host is saying it, a writer has written it.
Our job is to make them look great. And they can't look great without an entire team of people who are now finding it unlivable for the money,” Schreiner said.
Among the celebrities seen at the downtown rally were Second City and ‘SNL’ alum Tim Kazurinsky, comedian and director Bobcat Goldthwait and Matrix co-director Lilly Wachowski.
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