The upcoming contract talks between the WGA and the AMPTP were evidently in the ether during theWGA Awardson Sunday.
[These are] issues you hear writers talk about even when were not coming up to this deadline.
Things weve been saying for years and years, and were ready to fight for what we deserve.
Napkins are seen during the 2023 Writers Guild Awards West Coast CeremonyGetty Images
Nichols highlighted the issue of mini-rooms.
With current writers and future writers we should close as many of those loopholes as possible, she said.
Another major topic is streaming residuals.
Brittani Nichols on Sunday
This message was reiterated by the team behind hit Showtime seriesYellowjackets.
Co-creator Ashley Lyle said streaming residuals should exist.
Why wouldnt we want them to exist?
It used to be that when intellectual capital was re-purposed, you would make money for that work.
It would defy understanding that would no longer be the case, added showrunner Jonathan Lisco.
We have to come together and make this thing work for everybody.
I support everybody in the industry fighting for proper pay, said Yashere.
If we have to strike, then we have to strike.
Im hoping we come together and come to a good agreement, but well see what happens.
Strike talk was also in the air in New York.
Given the citys pugnacious reputation, the East Coast crowd was strikingly upbeat about thelaborsituation.
I tend to be by nature an optimist, Schiff said.
I think there are reasonable people on both sides.
But there are huge, huge issues here.
The fact is, our industry is built on old structures that are outdated.
Everyone knows this is time for a rethink of our industry.
Gilroy made an agricultural analogy to describe his mood heading toward the deadline.
Theres no conflict about it.
Walking the picket line made the stakes abundantly clear.
I saw many, many people lose their livelihoods, Borstein added.
Everyone realizes the gravity of a strike, so its not taken lightly.
But sometimes, its what youve got to do sometimes.
The business has changed.
It keeps changing, but youve got to keep changing with it.
But not everyone at the awards was laser-focused on the looming contract talks, which kick off March 20.
Im too busy to let it consume me, he said.
Theres too much to do.
