Sorry AMPTP, Your PR Firm Is No Match For WGA's Chris Keyser

As of Labor Day, September 4, 2023, Hollywood's writers and actors remain on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May 2 and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined them on July 13.

The WGA has decried the AMPTP's latest counteroffer (made near the end of August) as insufficient, softening existential threats to writers' careers instead of solving them. Rather than good faith engagement, the AMPTP's strategies have included publicly releasing their counteroffer (in clear hopes of putting public pressure on the WGA to accept it) and retaining public relations firm the Levinson Group. That last move is probably the source of recent puff piece profiles of figures like AMPTP President Carol Lombardini and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

On Labor Day, the WGA is instead relying on direct communication to its members and the public, with WGA Negotiating Committee Co-Chair Christopher Keyser appearing in an eight-minute, pre-recorded video. Keyser, who was president of WGA West from 2011 to 2015, is a TV writer best known for co-creating "Party of Five." He also has a background in political speechwriting, making him the perfect messenger. Keyser notes that this video is "not strictly an update on negotiations," but rather a message meant to center the Guild's actions and ongoing concerns on a day celebrating laborers of all stripes.

Keyser strikes a gracious tone to his fellow strikers and other affected workers but a firm one to the AMPTP. Even his moments of diplomacy (emphasizing the WGA is the "creative partner" of studios, not their enemies) only reinforce that line in the sand; the strike will only end when the producers accept the Guilds' terms: "They're going to have to do more, offer more, than they usually do."

After introducing himself, Keyser thanks fellow workers: WGA staff members, SAG-AFTRA members walking the same picket lines, and other impacted workers (Teamsters, IATSE members, etc.). To the latter, Keyser promises: "As you have stood with us, we will stand with you one day when it is your turn — that is how labor gets its due."

Across the video, Keyser recaps the WGA's reasons for striking, from mini-rooms to AI to shrinking residuals in the shift from broadcast to streaming. He also points to current events that show public momentum is still behind the WGA and SAG-AFTRA; newspapers like the LA Times and California public officials (specifically State Treasurer Fiona Ma) are urging the AMPTP to end the strike, correctly assessing where the burden lies.

Keyser stresses no WGA member wants to be on strike — but it must be done. "We do not write because it is easy. We write because we have no other choice," Keyser says, affirming the WGA will not leave "any sector" behind nor will it accept "contract language that has a 1:1 ratio of promises to loopholes."

As the video wraps up, Keyser suggests the memory of this strike will live on even after negotiations finally conclude and work resumes. A spirit of solidarity has been awakened — that spirit is why Labor Day exists at all.

Find resources on how to assist the WGA Strike here.