Rushfield: 19 Days to Go - Who Will Move this Industry Forward?
The writers search for order amidst the chaos
My Countdown to the Abyss series dives into the looming WGA strike, and what’s at stake as the May 1 deadline draws near. Earlier posts, including 55 Days to the Abyss, 62 Days to the Abyss and 70 Days to the Abyss are available to paid subscribers only. Love to hear your thoughts on the coming showdown. Give me a holler at richard@theankler.com.
The days dwindle down to a precious few here at AbyssWatch 2023 HQ. (Nineteen days until the deadline if you're keeping track.)
The two sides are still talking, which is good — that is, if it’s real-talking and not just fake-talking so they can say that they talked.
Here's the problem with working to change the writers' basic lot right now, said from the perspective of one who feels deeply that the writers should and must make a stand right now:
The problem isn’t that they're negotiating with studios that are impoverished, but rather studios that are deeply confused. Whichever way this worm turns: we've got an industry that is flailing, befuddled and backwards-looking at this moment. If the writers aren't going to settle for more than some half-measure reversion to antediluvian pre-history, there has got to be a vision of a better world ahead here in someone's head.
And at the moment in this industry, no one seems capable of dreaming such dreams. Who among our industry leaders, riddled with their own issues and anxieties, is going to stick their neck out to get this thing done?
So the difficulty is the writers are trying to create a just, stable corner in a business where there's no stability.
Consider a few pieces of evidence to emerge in the past week: