YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

As you read this, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG) are currently pounding the pavement in New York and Los Angeles, raising signs and rhyming chants to anyone who will listen. Most movie and television production has ceased, as have promotional campaigns. The work stoppage doesn’t appear to be ending soon, and studios have started rolling over their 2023 releases to 2024 — time to prepare yourself for an odd fall and winter at the movies and on TV.

The writers and actors are striking for many reasons, but their primary concern is the medium’s future. They want to ensure that the movies and shows you watch and fall in love with are envisioned by human minds and feature human faces. They want the form to remain an artistic expression, not just as another generative mint machine for a select few.

What can you do to help? Not much, really. I don’t think a battery of calls to Bob Iger or Ted Sarandos will speed up a contract negotiation. But if you have the means, donating to the Entertainment Community Fund will go a long way in helping out the below-the-line craftspeople caught in the middle.

In the meantime, the best thing you can do is help to preserve what we already have. The history of cinema