International Film & TV Unions React To WGA Strike

International unions representing film and TV writers across the world have begun sharing their responses to Hollywood’s first writers strike in 15 years, as WGA members gear up to hit picket lines.

Thousands of WGA members are set to walk picket lines across Los Angeles, New York and other major U.S. cities Tuesday afternoon after the WGA announced that it was unable to reach a last-minute deal with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on a new three-year contract to replace the one that expired Monday night.

UK Writers Guild Expresses Solidarity With WGA & Tells Members Not To Work On U.S. Projects For Strike Duration

In a statement to Deadline, Giorgio Glaviano, President of the Writers Guild of Italy, said the union has “followed the negotiations of our American colleagues with great trepidation.”

“We express our solidarity with colleagues at the WGA, because their struggles are ours too,” Glaviano said. “All over the world, the figure of the screenwriter is threatened by ever tighter wages and increasingly vexatious working conditions.”

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Glaviano backed the WGA’s concerns around the use of Artificial Intelligence, writing that the technology risks making the work of writers “more and more a struggle for survival.” During negotiations with AMPTP, the WGA sought regulation around the use of AI on MBA-covered projects. In response, the studios tabled the introduction of annual meetings “to discuss advancements in technology.”

Glaviano ended the letter: “We will support our American colleagues in every way. Because the only thing that interests us and unites us all as authors is to tell the world, to make emotions live, and to give spectators dreams.”

Meanwhile in Israel, the nation that brought Fauda and Shtisel to the world, the Screenwriters Guild of Israel unequivocally backed the WGA.

“SGI writers stand in solidarity with our WGA E/W brothers and sisters and support their fight for the survival of writing as a viable profession,” said a statement on social media this morning. “The SGI stands with all striking WGA E/W members on the picket line and calls upon the AMPTP to be reasonable and pay up.”

Hugh Farley, Director of the Writers’ Guild of Ireland, pointed Deadline towards a statement from WGI Chair Jennifer Davidson issued on April 19.

“The Writers’ Guild of Ireland stands firmly with our colleagues in the WGA in their negotiations for better conditions for their members. The issues that they are raising are issues that we face as Irish writers, if not now, then in the near future,” she said.

WGA members “deserve a deal that allows writers to share in the success of the content they create,” Davidson added, pointing to the need for Irish writers to be executive producers on their own shows to ensure they are fairly compensated.

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In line with International Affiliation of Writers Guilds agreements, both the Israeli and Irish unions said they would encourage any writer members on U.S. shows to down tools. The Writers Guild of Great Britain has issued a similar directive.

The last WGA work stoppage of 2007-08 lasted 14 weeks. This week, picket lines will go up at 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday at 10 Los Angeles studios from Amazon to Warner Bros, as well as at the Peacock NewFront presentation on 5th Avenue in New York City.