The dual writers’ and actors’ strikes have brought Hollywood to a historic standstill. With studios showing no intention of returning to the bargaining table for months, the ripple effects of a long-haul strike are likely to cost the economy billions, impacting everyone in Southern California.
KNX News is collecting testimonies from SoCal residents who have been affected by the strike, from union members to locals with no ties to the entertainment industry. The calls we’ve received show a mix of devastation, hope, fear, and solidarity in the face of an uncertain future.
Dana
“I’m a writer, I wasn’t in the WGA but all my eggs were in the writer’s basket. I was a stay-at-home mom for years, so I was on the come-up. I had a manager, an agent, I just sold a movie. And then the writers’ strike. I know it’s necessary, I’ve been out on the line with everyone, but what’s happened to me has been eviction, trying to find a job … I feel like this is my origin story, so I’m not feeling sorry for myself, but I am feeling some kind of way.”
Abdiel Gonzalez
“I am a SAG-AFTRA singer, and there’s a bunch of us that do SAG-AFTRA soundtracks for movies, for TV, and we just all got together yesterday and we picketed outside of Disney Studios … People think of the actors, the actors that you see in the camera, but you almost never think about the voices that you hear in the choir, the soloists that sing in movies because that adds so much to a movie.”
Julissa Lai
“I work in post-production as a digital media technician and I was recently laid off about a month ago due to the writers’ strike. I've been working in post production for the past 20 years, and the last writers' strike I lost my job as well, and wasn't able to find work until about a year afterwards. So I'm very worried that that's gonna be the situation again this time.”
Denny Dormody
“I’m smiling over the company town solidarity. I have a ‘screenwriter’ license plate and people are coming by and giving me a thumbs up here at work and in the parking lot at Ralph’s, here in Pasadena. Pretty cool, everyone is behind all of us strikers. I’m the only member of the Screen Actors Guild that’s a licensed funeral director.”
Kelly
“Since November, I haven’t had a full time job. I’ve been day-playing. I was on a pilot in June, it got shut down. I’m trying to do a non-union movie now, that got shut down, waiting for a waiver. And I can’t sell my property because a writer wanted to buy it and does not qualify. So I hope it’s over shortly.”
Esmerelda Villalobos
“I literally just graduated with my MFA in screenwriting, which took me two years to get. Not only that, but I actually graduated with my bachelors in film back in 2009, right when the recession hit. So I graduated in a recession, and I got my master's degree during a strike, and there just doesn't seem to be any opportunities. There's no path anymore. Even when I was an assistant – I worked in independent film for five, six years – there’s just no middle ground. There’s base pay assistants, and then there are greedy bosses who are literally getting paid – a year’s salary of the assistant, my boss got paid double that in one month. The greed is just absolutely insane, no one can get anywhere, and we really just aren’t moving forward.”
Mark
“I know what it’s like to be in a strike. I was in a situation back in 2004 during the grocery strike and I got locked out, and I know what it’s like to not have regular steady income. It breaks my heart that these studios won’t give you what you need. You guys deserve it 100%. In the meantime, I am not participating in any movie attendances … We’re not watching any movies on Netflix, on Hulu, or nothing like that. So we’re supporting you guys, and I hope that sends a warm message to you, knowing that regular people that aren’t in your industry are supporting you and love you all for everything that you do, all the entertainment you bring to this world. Thank you, and fight on.”
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