Voices from the picket lines: Three writers on why they’re striking

Should a picture be worth a thousand times more than the words? We interviewed three striking Hollywood writers – a newcomer, a mid-career writer, and a veteran – about their tribulations and triumphs.

Across Hollywood, the picket line for writers looks quite similar. Wearing blue Writers Guild of America T-shirts and carrying signs affixed to stakes, the strikers walk a circuit past the gates of each studio. Then they loop back in the opposite direction. At Fox Studios, one writer carries a sign that says, “I’m getting my 10,000 steps in.” 

To get to this point in their careers, these writers have also had to put in their 10,000 hours. It’s a profession that often entails late nights and forgoing weekends. The scribes say that studios and streaming services (dubbed “streamers”) often nickel and dime them to cut costs. On the picket line, as in their jobs, they are accustomed to perseverance.

The Monitor interviewed three of the people on strike – a newcomer, a mid-career writer, and a veteran – about their tribulations and triumphs in the industry.