Writers Say Being On Strike Is Better Than Writing Star Wars Movies
With August almost halfway over and fall on the way, it’s hard to believe that the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike for 100 days. Over the last 100 days, the writers have formed a strong alliance with SAG-AFTRA as the actors have also taken to the picket lines to demand their own set of fair asks from the studios at the top. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the hope and tenacity of the striking unions are as high as ever with one set of writers even saying that “picketing Disney is a lot more fun than writing a Star Wars movie.”
An absolute dig, the anti-Star Wars comment came from Damon Lindelof who has served as the showrunner and creator on a multitude of popular and celebrated titles including Lost, The Leftovers, HBO’s Watchmen, and Mrs. Davis. Also a revered writer, Lindelof holds credits penning scripts for movies including Cowboys & Aliens, Prometheus, Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z, and Tomorrowland.
On strike with the WGA, Lost‘s Damon Lindelof called picketing the major film studios “more fun than writing a Star Wars movie.”
His snark aimed at the House of Mouse comes after he and his co-worker-turned-co-striker, Justin Britt-Gibson, were fired from a Star Wars feature that they were working on for Disney’s Lucasfilm.
While he said that he was unsure of when the “end in sight” was coming and if there even was one, Lindelof said that showing up outside Disney’s studio in Burbank, California was “a lot more fun than writing a Star Wars movie.”
Sharing the same amount of zest, Britt-Gibson tossed in his resolve for the strike to end in “a better future” for everyone in the entertainment industry, tossing in a cheeky “Strike the Empire back!” for added effect.
“Justin [Brett-Gibson] and I wrote a Star Wars movie together and picketing Disney is a lot more fun than writing a Star Wars movie.“
-Damon Lindelof
As it is in front of Disney studios where Lindelof and Britt-Gibson are casting shade at the Star Wars IP owners, the strike is in full swing in front of every other studio in the area. From Netflix to Radford Studio Center, familiar faces like Star Trek: Lower Decks writer Chris Kuna and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Ethan Peck are making their voices heard and marching for their rights to residuals, fair wages, better boundaries around the use of artificial intelligence, and much more.
Back at Disney, Grey’s Anatomy actress Camilla Luddington marched alongside the striking writers who work tirelessly on the long-running ABC series and shared her hopes that both unions would receive what they’re asking for.
Disney In The Crosshairs
A lot of hate has been thrown at Star Wars’ home studio of Disney as its CEO Bob Iger was put on blast back in July for making disparaging comments surrounding the very simple and understandable asks of both the writers and actors taking to the picket lines.
After calling their demands “unrealistic,” the studio exec slammed the unions for going on strike and further damaging the entertainment business following the negative effects that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had on it.
Since backtracking his words in a recent speech, it would seem as though Iger is hoping to make nice with the unions and get things back on track but one thing’s for sure – these actors and writers have more than enough vitriol built up to stay in the Los Angeles sun for as long as it takes for their demands to be met.
