Protesters chanted during Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's commencement speech in solidarity with the WGA writers' strike.
RELATED: Striking WGA writers express concerns about ChatGPT, AI taking jobs
Film and TV screenwriters earlier this month began striking after talks with producers broke off. The WGA is seeking better pay, new contracts for the streaming era and safeguards against the use of AI-scripted work-arounds.
In Cannes, the strike been a regular topic for American stars, filmmakers and producers. On Thursday, Ethan Hawke wore a shirt that read "Pencils Down." On the festival's opening day Tuesday, juror Paul Dano said he planned to join his wife, Zoe Kazan, on the picket lines soon.
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Pay them what’s fair … we want our shows back on
“The weekly minimum for a staff writer on a television series in the 2019-2020 season was $4,546, according to industry trade outlet Variety. They work an average of 29 weeks on a network show for $131,834 annually, or an average of 20 weeks on a streaming show for $90,920. For a writer-producer, the figure is $6,967 per week.”
Call me old fashioned but if I was making six figures and only working about half the year I wouldn’t be going on strike for better pay