Writers Guild of America walks, strike against studios is on WGA

West, WGA East start picketing as Hollywood braces for impact

By BRODY LEVESQUE

Members of the Writers Guild of America officially hit the picket lines Tuesday morning after weeks of failed negotiations with some of Hollywood’s biggest studios and streaming companies.

In a statement released late Monday before the midnight deadline when the current contract between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild expired, Ellen Stutzman, Chief Negotiator along with WGA negotiating committee co-chairs David A. Goodman and Chris Keyser announced; “Our negotiation with the studios and streamers has failed to reach an agreement. We are on strike.”

Deadline’s Dominic Patton, who has been covering the WGA – AMPTP talks, reported:

“Writers Guild of America leaders are saying Monday night that the guild was forced to go on strike at midnight PT because their proposals to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on core contract issues “fell on deaf ears.”

Money is a big issue — the guild is seeking a new contract that would increase pay and benefits by $429 million over three years, but says that the studios only offered $86 million. But preserving writing as a profession is an even bigger issue and goes to the core of what the strike is about.

Patton also described that in a phone interview with Deadline shortly after the contract negotiations broke off, WGA West president Meredith Stiehm, and WGA negotiating committee co-chairs David A. Goodman and Chris Keyser told Deadline the AMPTP “stonewalled” the guild from the very beginning of the negotiations on a “constellation” of proposals that guild members are demanding.

In the WGA statement, the Guild leadership laid out union concerns including how the companies’ business practices have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions.

The WGA negotiators also stated that “given the existential crisis writers are facing. The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a “day rate” in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have deal could ever be contemplated by closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

The statement noted that the strike by the WGA West and WGA East against the AMPTP would begin on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET. Picketing will begin Tuesday afternoon, according to the WGA West.

The AMPTP also issued a statement:

“

The AMPTP presented a comprehensive package proposal to the guild last night which included generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals,” the statement said.

“

The AMPTP also indicated to the WGA that it is prepared to improve that offer, but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon. The primary sticking points are mandatory staffing and duration of employment, guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.

The AMPTP member companies remain united in their desire to reach a deal that is mutually beneficial to writers and the health and longevity of the industry, and to avoid hardship to the thousands of employees who depend upon the industry for their livelihoods. The AMPTP is willing to engage in discussions with the WGA in an effort to break this logjam.”

In an interview with KABC 7 Los Angeles, Deadline’s Patton said both sides are dug in.

“The differences between the guild and the studios are significant,” he said. “Hundreds of millions of dollars that we’re looking at and completely different attitudes towards stuff like AI, stuff that’s almost completely insurmountable at this point.”

The last major strike against the studios occurred in 2007, with union members staying off the job for 100 days and grinding production to a standstill. According to various estimates from different organizations, that the 100-day strike cost the economy in Los Angeles County and Southern California between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Patton also noted: “All the people who provide services and goods to the film industry, vendors, they’re going to have no one to sell to. So this is going to have a blast radius throughout Los Angeles County probably pretty quickly.”

The immediate impact will be the late night television shows followed by scripted television productions and some film sets.

The Writers Guild also said in its statement calling for the walk-out:

“Here is what all writers know: the companies have broken this business. They have taken so much from the very people, the writers, who have made them wealthy. But what they cannot take from us is each other, our solidarity, our mutual commitment to save ourselves and this profession that we love. We had hoped to do this through reasonable conversation. Now we will do it through struggle. For the sake of our present and our future, we have been given no other choice.”

For its part, the AMPTP said its statement: “The primary sticking points are ‘mandatory staffing,’ and ‘duration of employment’ – guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.”

Inside Seoul’s hidden lesbian nightclubs

For a few hours, women can gather without fear of discrimination

By ASH POTTER

SEOUL, South Korea — Hongdae, a neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea, is known for its vibrant nightlife and indie music scene. By day, it’s a shopping and café mecca. By night it’s a crazy, alcohol-fueled playground. What’s easy to miss — and not even many Koreans living in Hongdae know about — is that hidden in plain sight, there are also secret lesbian clubs where women can gather and be themselves without fear of judgment or discrimination.

“Hongdae is the lesbian area of Seoul,” my good friend blurted out when I told him over dinner. He’s been a resident of Hongdae for more than seven years but had never noticed. Most Koreans don’t know any LGBTQ people as Korean society is conservative and not accepting of homosexuality. Hongdae’s reputation as a more free-thinking, hipster haven makes it a perfect location for openness — albeit in private.

In South Korea, homosexuality is not illegal, but it is not widely accepted, especially in more conservative areas of the country. Seoul is more open compared to the countryside but not open enough for lesbians to be open. Same-sex couples cannot legally marry or adopt children and discrimination against the LGBTQ community is still prevalent.

Allen, a Korean woman in her 20s says, “There is a very strong homophobic atmosphere [in Korea] regardless of generation.”

Despite these challenges, the LGBTQ community in South Korea has been gradually (very gradually) gaining some visibility and acceptance in recent years such as an LGBTQ dating reality show “Merry Queer” following lesbian, gay and transgender couples. Seoul’s gay Pride parade — which last year drew thousands of participants despite protests from conservative religious groups — shows a shift in thinking too. However, it’s not enough progress as lesbian and bisexual women are still meeting in the dark.

One way in which the community has been able to connect and support each other is through secret lesbian clubs. Goon Young* is a Seoul freelancer in her mid-20s. Growing up she was constantly told that being straight is “natural” which left her feeling confused about her sexuality. “I thought I was bisexual when I was in college. I figured out that I don’t like men only about two years ago.” Goon Young enjoys hanging out at Hongdae’s lesbian club scene regularly.

These clubs are not advertised openly and are often hidden in inconspicuous side-streets, or in basements behind mainstream clubs.

One of these secret clubs is close to an infamous drinking spot for foreigners and when some foreign men were turned away for not being women, they looked visibly confused. It’s a large, luxe club with a strict no photograph rule. There’s table service and the DJ blasts Korean rap such as Jay Park and Zico.

This club and most of the others won’t easily pop up when you search on your phone’s map so usually lesbians need to get to know another lesbian to ask around for the exact location. This typically involves going to an LGBTQ bar first, or meet-up group and making friends there, as blurting out to your work buddies “Oh, by the way, is anyone else here gay?” wouldn’t go down too well in Korea. Goon Young concurs, “I’m pretty open to people that I love, someone like my mom or friends, but you can’t really tell people who are coworkers or someone [you] just met.”

Discrimination and stigma against the LGBTQ community persist in many areas of South Korean society, including the workplace and school. Many LGBTQ individuals still face rejection from their families and friends, and some even resort to conversion therapy to try and change their sexual orientation.

Luckily Goon Young’s mom is supportive, but not entirely convinced. “I came out to my mom — who loves me — last year. She still loves me and cheers me up when I have heartbreaks with girlfriends. But she says she still can’t take it seriously and gay things are not ‘natural,’ she always tells me to meet some good guys and date them even though I always reply to her that I don’t like men.”

The lesbian nightlife scene’s purpose is truly to create a safe space and respect the privacy of all. There’s so much trust in these clubs that “lonely heart” style personal ads are displayed on the big projector screen behind the DJ in the first club where I partied. After all, queer dating isn’t as straight-forward in a country that prizes straightness.

Inside these clubs, women let their guard down and can be themselves. They can dance, drink, and socialize without fear of being judged or harassed. Legally speaking, South Korea doesn’t have comprehensive LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws so the fear of physical safety for the LGBTQ community really means that a “safe space” carries much more weight than a “safe space” in a country where there’s more acceptance of gay rights.

Another safe space was a tiny club a little walk away from the big, “lonely hearts personals” club. What it lacked in size it made up for in chaotic ENERGY! Nobody was sitting in a corner here and after picking up my free drink included with the entry fee (every club did this), it was hit after hit from rapper Lil Nas X to K-pop group BLACKPINK.

Although lesbian and bi women were dancing wildly, enjoying the night, even within these safe spaces, many club-goers still feel the need to remain cautious as the fear of being outed can be overwhelming.

The last club I went to carried this caution. Located on an inconspicuous street, women were looking over their shoulders when paying in. That is, right up until the elevator doors shut. Once shut, women let their guards down and asked me how I found out about this place. Once inside — free drink handled (every club did Budweiser as a free drink option) — it was a playground of EDM, large opulent bottle service with half-undressed bartenders. One of them was even passing around free shots from one of the stripper pole podiums.

If there’s a lesbian heaven, I think I caught a glimpse of it here.

The cool air hit me as I left for home but nobody walking past suspected that the women leaving this club were not heterosexual. The fact that these clubs are still a secret highlights the need for greater acceptance and visibility of the LGBTQ community in South Korea. While progress has been made in recent years, there is still a long way to go before LGBTQ individuals can openly express their identities without fear of discrimination or being attacked.

“Young people in Korea are pretty open to LGBTQ, [but] of course, there are [some] who hate LGBTQ people. Most of the old people just can’t take it”, Goon Young says.

The existence of secret lesbian clubs in Hongdae and other parts of Seoul is a testament to the resilience and strength of the LGBTQ community in South Korea, also. Despite facing significant challenges and obstacles, these women have found a way to connect and support each other, creating safe spaces where they can be themselves.

Hongdae’s secret world of lesbian clubs offers a glimpse behind the curtain. Despite many hurdles, on a late, spring night in underground Hongdae clubs, women danced and flirted freely for the few hours they could be themselves.

(Editor’s note: Some names have been changed to protect identities of sources. Ash Potter is a freelance journalist based in Seoul.)