The best signs from the Writers’ Strike picket line (so far)
Protest signs from the ongoing WGA strike prove a cardinal point: creative, goofy, and sharp entertainment doesn't happen without writers behind the scenes
Aux News California
Ever since the clock struck midnight on Tuesday and the existing contract between the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) expired, 11,500 Guild screenwriters have been on strike, picketing for fair wages, an end to mini-rooms, and sturdy protections against AI-generated content.
While striking writers abstain from pitching, writing, re-writing, or optioning any scrips, they’ve instead turned their big beautiful brains towards penning clever, creative, and hilarious protest signs that prove a cardinal point inherent in the strike itself: all good entertainment starts in the writer’s room. Whether threatening to spoil Succession, opining “What Would Larry David Do?” or calling for the release of Batgirl, writers on the front lines of the collective action haven’t stopped putting their pens to good use; they’re just not doing it for the billionaires atop of the Hollywood ecosystem anymore.
Behold, the most quotable, notable signs from the picket lines so far, compiled by The A.V. Club news team.
70 Comments
Way to work in a terrible “My pronouns are…” faux pas there, WGA…
That one probably lost his job anyway when Tucker got fired.
That was the funniest one. I laughed.
Right not every pronoun joke is bad there are some good ones out there
I would’ve worked in some sort of a Goodfellas “You want X? Fuck you; pay me” reference instead.
Way to understand satire, idiot.
Aw, look at the cute doggie!
Thank goodness we still have the writers at the AV Club turning out quality writing for us every day! It would be unconscionable if they all just got up and left due to unfair corporate practices…
The GMG Union was just on strike last year… and they won.
For writers, these are pretty lame.
Thought the Ohio one was cute…
If you want good writing you’re going to have to pay for it.
Yoooo!
Good logic, only write well when we get paid well. Show gets cancelled because of poor writing, then no pay at all! Makes sense!
I was surprised to not see any of these on here, most of which are much better.
Your Baby Yoda looks like Ling-Ling.
At the risk of sounding paranoid, consider that any form of major media relies on the largesse of The Industry to make rent, between those who work directly for the studios and those who require positive relations with the studios to get material. Which means that it’s actually in the AV Club’s interests to cherry-pick the mediocre signs to put on display.
I still don’t grasp why Mando’s obviously shitty cult catchphrase sodden by rigid dogmatism became something everyone decided ‘yeah we should all reflexively say this too.’
At this point, I’d give AI a shot at the MCU. Haven’t seen Guardians 3 yet though.
The idea that the AVClub actually went through hundreds of pictures to select these as ‘the best’ is pretty funny.
All very amusing, but I would have been impressed with a sign that concisely and convincingly makes an argument for better pay and what the residuals payout has disadvantaged them. That’s a lot to ask of a sign, but as cute as these are, I think to a passerby these will just appear like stock images of any worker protesting.
I was actually kind of thinking the same. I don’t know all of the pertinent information, but I’m guessing it would be more than would fit on a sign. Though I suppose they could try spreading that out on several signs, as well as making good thick and well-defined lines on their letters in order to make them more readable.Of course, on the other hand there’s ‘How much does the content of the picket sign or the opinion of passers-by really matter in something like this?’
Pay and residuals are only a part of the concern. There’s also staffing and AI. As one of the WGA higher ups has put it, this strike is existential.
Thanks for pointing that out. I don’t think one sign needs to include ALL those issues, but I think it’s more impressive and helpful to have, say, an editorial-cartoon-style sign that actually addresses some of the issues. No easy task, but I’m sure those substantive signs were present and wish they’d been featured, too. I’m being a grump about this, but I think a lot attention is given to “witty” protest signs that try to amuse people already on your team rather than those that actually bring light to their issue.
The people they’re protesting already know what they want and what they’re not giving the writers.The general public is not the target audience.
THANK YOU. As a writer, I can’t tell you how many times some Big Brain™ critic offers feedback exactly like above. You want an in-depth argument on a complicated subject in about 30 characters? If you’re not part of the target audience and you’re incapable of learning more about the issue on your own, that’s on you buddy.
The fact that they could not write a simple justification for their jobs and would require 3 episodes signs to get the point across doesn’t really help the argument.
“The fact that they could not write a simple justification for their jobs and would require 3 episodes signs to get the point across doesn’t really help the argument.”
What if, instead of being a twat, you simply rammed a railroad spike through your eye?
I’d be willing to bet that the thinking is that anyone who gives a crap about the details of the situation can/will look that up themselves, and customizing the signs is more for the strikers’ own morale.
Have you ever seen a picket sign that explains the striker’s grievances? They almost always just say something like, “Unfair!” Which is fine, because nobody is going to stop and read a sign that says much more than that. You just kind of have to take it as a given that for people to be driven to strike, they have legitimate issues. Which I think is the case the vast majority of the time.
That’s right. Also, it’s not just what you get paid, but what you get paid for. Studios ask for more and more development work for free. Used to be you’d show a treatment, and if they liked it, you got a deal (with money) to develop that into a script which they would or would not produce and would or would not put on the air. Now, draft after draft is expected, UNPAID, and while you’re developing the material, you can’t work anywhere else. That has to change. (My wife is WGA, I’m SAG-AFTRA).
That’s a lot to ask of a sign, but as cute as these are, I think to a passerby these will just appear like stock images of any worker protesting….oh my god you’re serious.The signs on a picket line are meant to be quick attention grabbing messages meant to get attention and support from passersby.Because you can’t usually simplify the issues surrounding a picket line/strike to things that fit on a sign.
This comment has real “black lives matter is such a DIVISIVE slogan” energy.
Strike signs aren’t the place for a detailed and nuanced list of grievances. Heck, our country took over 1300 words to lay out all the reasons why we had to be independent, but “Give me liberty or give me death” or simply “Freedom!” makes for a better slogan you can shout out as you’re charging down the battlefield.
If you’re curious, you can see the list of proposals, and AMPTP’s ridiculous counter-offers (or complete lack of any response whatsoever, in many cases), here:https://www.wga.org/uploadedfiles/members/member_info/contract-2023/WGA_proposals.pdf
Personally, my fave “F you” from the studios is their counter offer to the proposed AI regulations: “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology” (wow, thanks, so helpful!). But you can pick your own, write it on a sign, and join the picket line.
As promised, I went down and distributed coffee and donuts at the Netflix picket line in Hollywood this morning. Said hi to Colton Dunn and David Wain. We’re planning to go down once a week to give out coffee, food, etc. as long as the strike runs.
Doin the lord’s work
I was thinking of you while reading these. Good for you; good for everyone.
Cool. Where does the line start to suck your dick?
Wait, what does she mean “Logan Roy would be alive?”
Spoiler alert for Succession, maybe?
I think AVClub already spoiled that one in several different headlines…
the way it was at the bottom of that sign too! How was I to know that was coming? ahhh!!!
Great, now an AV Club slideshow has cost the WGA the backing of the Spoiler Justice Warriors.
I read that as, some hack writer wouldn’t dare, or wouldn’t think of such a bold move. By now anyone who loves that show would know about such things—maybe not?
I don’t think this one is ending for quite a while, especially if AI has made inroads into Hollywood, like many fear.
HOLY F*%$$ you had to put the Succession spoiler. I am watching this show while carefully avoiding articles about it in headlines Sunday/Monday. I didn’t think some BS clickbait article about “Writer Strike signs” (since of course, who has the attention span to actually read updates about strike actions and demands of the WGA) would cause me to be spoiled.I’m done with you AV Club. Good riddance. My solidarity to the WGA.
The Labor quote on the new mom is just spectacular. Strike on, get that fair deal comrades.
I really hope that Logan Roy sign is some kind of a joke, or else fuck that writer and fuck the AV Club for promoting that spoiler.
Maybe the message is “If you don’t work with us we’ll spill all of our secrets?”
“I was gonna support the strike until they spoiled a show I’m way behind on.”
IDK, that was all over the damn place in multiple outlets, not just on a hand lettered sign—if you are far, far under a rock and episodes behind, oh well. I mean a spoiler can’t be held for eternity…
I come to this stupid site and stupid Twitter almost every day and didn’t see it. I was about three episodes behind. So I’m hardly under a rock, and a few episodes doesn’t quite count as an eternity. Spoiling a movie that’s still in theatres or a show that’s still airing is fucking obnoxious and those kinds of justifications are just silliness.
Weird, I saw it all over the freakin’ place starting the night it aired and continuing mostly on entertainment sites hailing the episode as one of the best of the series and year. I think a reasonable amount of discretion for a spoiler is in order but nearly a month after an episode which had been reviewed and dissected by numerous outlets including more than one place on THIS site, you would assume most people had caught up by then or were aware of the outcome. At least one of your ears had to be under a heavy object to not have discovered this huge plot development. The spoiler is right in the title: SUCCESSION.
What if they gave a writers strike and none of the signs were particularly well-written?
I wonder if there’s a part of the CEOs/studio heads that is stalling just hoping for a big enough leap in AI’s ability to generate scripts that they can tell the strikers to come back to work for peanuts or don’t come back at all.
My favorite:
Scientists are working on that.
I don’t get it
You’re really reaching with this.
Personally my favorites have been the Jenna Ortega dunks. But I know *some* people are touchy about those…
Not touchy, they’re just not a good look on the writers
I don’t get the negativity. They’re all mostly very clever and attention-getting. As another commenter mentioned: there are surely plenty of signs that are more literal about the issues. These were enjoyable to read.
Quite rich, with how unceremoniously this site did away with it’s writers and editors that it’s un-ironically running these stories..
“The best signs from the Writers’ Strike picket line (so far)”So far? Why aren’t you including ones from the future? I really loved the one from in front of the WB lot next week, that was a great one.
That’s a lot of ChatGPT gags. Are studios really threatening to use AI? That’s a pretty hollow threat if so. I think we’re a very long way from AI writing a compelling show (there might honestly be enough learning material for it to take over the Simpsons, though).
I think we’re a very long way from AI writing a compelling show…They wouldn’t use AI to write the entire thing. Their goal is to use AI to generate *most* of it and then hire fewer/cheaper writers to fix them up.
South Park used it for an episode and it was actually kind of entertaining.
yes, they are. Or rather, one of the proposals by the WGA included limits on use of AI in writing, AND banning training AI using existing scripts. The studios responded by proposing “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology” so, you know, clearly they have plans in this area.
This contract would be in place for DECADES. Think of how far the tech world has come since the last contract, 15 years ago, in 2007. The first iphone hadn’t even been released. Facebook had only expanded beyond specific college grads for a year. Streaming was just this weird thing Netflix was doing to supplement their DVD-by-mail business. And so much more.So it’s not about where AI is TODAY, it’s about where it might be by 2037.
And these people want MORE money? I’ve seen cleverer picket signs outside McDonald’s.
How badly is this going to backfire, they us AI while they are on strike and they are just fired.