Speaker 1: Jayshn Low, Wayne, why don't you point seven? It's because
Speaker 1: I've ham Los Angeles, Ryan Seacrest here, so in the
Speaker 1: morning when we pass Warner Brothers Studios, at least that's
Speaker 1: the way I come in to Burbank. And actually when
Speaker 1: I left yesterday I saw picketers.
Speaker 2: Walking across the bridge. Yep.
Speaker 1: And this is a big deal, right, So what's happening
Speaker 1: with your favorite shows? The writers gil of America on strike.
Speaker 1: So if you have driven by any of the major studios,
Speaker 1: you've seen people writers out picketing. And Francesca Ramsey's going
Speaker 1: to join us right now as a member of the WGA.
Speaker 1: Haven't written for I Carly and the Oscars and the
Speaker 1: Nightly Show on Comedy Central. Francesca, it's Ryan and Cisnein
Speaker 1: and Tanya.
Speaker 2: How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm doing pretty good. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: It's a pleasure because we want to know a little
Speaker 1: bit more and understand from your point of view how
Speaker 1: it's going. But where do you hold up your sign?
Speaker 3: Normally I've been bouncing. I've been at the Disney Studios recently,
Speaker 3: and yesterday I was at Paramount.
Speaker 2: I'm looking at a sign here.
Speaker 1: Someone was holding up saying chat GPT can't replace me.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at show support for the writers here in Hollywood,
Speaker 1: and you think about the amount of scripted programming that's
Speaker 1: now versus years ago, and it is the world we
Speaker 1: live in. And what are you hearing on the picket
Speaker 1: lines about progress or how long this is actually going
Speaker 1: to take to get it right?
Speaker 2: Francesca, I mean, the mood.
Speaker 3: Has been so positive despite the circumstances. There's incredible solidarity
Speaker 3: on the picket line. We've had so many union show
Speaker 3: to support us, including members of SAgs, the DGA, and IAZI.
Speaker 3: Even the LA bus drivers are honking when they pass us.
Speaker 3: You know, we don't know how long this is going
Speaker 3: to take, but we are ready to fight, and we're
Speaker 3: fighting because we know that we will win.
Speaker 2: What's the biggest fight.
Speaker 3: So, you know, despite what many people assume, many TV
Speaker 3: writers are not making a living wage while Hollywood CEOs
Speaker 3: are picking home millions. And this is because TV shows
Speaker 3: have shorter seasons. Writers rooms have gotten smaller, and the
Speaker 3: residuals that usually are meant to sustain us between jobs
Speaker 3: have gotten incredibly low because of streaming. And so these
Speaker 3: are all the things that we were trying to secure
Speaker 3: in our contract with the studios, and unfortunately we were
Speaker 3: not able to come to a resolution, which is what
Speaker 3: led to us striking.
Speaker 1: So I remember hearing just before the strike happened that
Speaker 1: it was going to happen. My was the buzz, Wise,
Speaker 1: this is going to happen, There will be a strike.
Speaker 1: What are you hearing? What is the buzz? What are
Speaker 1: people saying? What are the rumblings about when this will
Speaker 1: be resolved?
Speaker 3: Here's the thing. The writers are ready to talk. The
Speaker 3: ball is in the studio's court, but they need to
Speaker 3: come to the table with the serious offer. And so
Speaker 3: far our responses have not been serious. And that's why
Speaker 3: we knew a strike was potentially eminent. Because they refused
Speaker 3: to talk to us about AI. They refuse to discuss
Speaker 3: fixed residuals for streaming, they refuse to talk about minimum
Speaker 3: writers for writers' rooms, and they refuse to discuss paid
Speaker 3: steps for future writers. And I'm sorry, Ryan, that is
Speaker 3: not how negotiating works.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, we need two people at the table
Speaker 1: or two sides at the table for a negotiation to
Speaker 1: to start and to make any progress.
Speaker 2: I mean, you think about it's a good point.
Speaker 1: The TV season used to be twenty two episodes was
Speaker 1: in order, and now you get eight, you get ten,
Speaker 1: you get short orders, right, so everything's sort of everything's changed.
Speaker 3: Those shorter orders are hurting the writers on the back
Speaker 3: end because they have less time to make the shows
Speaker 3: that are important to you. They have less time to
Speaker 3: devote to those characters, and they're not being paid because
Speaker 3: they're not having longer writers' rooms to create that work
Speaker 3: that then goes on to make millions of dollars for
Speaker 3: the studio.
Speaker 1: So the two sides are not at the table now,
Speaker 1: is what you're telling us, And that needs to change.
Speaker 3: Yes, the writers are ready and the studios, unfortunately have
Speaker 3: stone wall dust on a number of issues.
Speaker 1: How long do you and your peers think they can
Speaker 1: stonewall what's the reality of that?
Speaker 3: You know, we are putting some really great measures in
Speaker 3: place to show them how serious we are. We've gotten
Speaker 3: great support, but we've also shut down production because of
Speaker 3: the writers that make these shows happen are standing in
Speaker 3: solidarity with us. Avid, Elementary, Stranger Things, Severance, SNL, the
Speaker 3: Late Night shows, Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, the Tonight Show. We
Speaker 3: are prepared to go as long as needed to show
Speaker 3: the studios that you cannot make these shows without our
Speaker 3: hard work are intelligence, the stories, the characters that make
Speaker 3: you laugh and make you cry and make you think.
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of resilience on the picket line.
Speaker 3: And again, when the studios are ready to come to
Speaker 3: the table with a serious offer that takes us seriously
Speaker 3: and gives us the mere two percent of the billion's
Speaker 3: worth of profits that we're asking for, that's when the
Speaker 3: strike will end.
Speaker 1: Francesca Ramsey, la writer out there, WGA member on the
Speaker 1: picket lines, thank you so much for calling and giving
Speaker 1: us your view and an update. And I hope the
Speaker 1: right people are hearing this right now from you.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, thank you so much. Ryan. Just to
Speaker 3: let everybody know we would love your support on the
Speaker 3: picket lines. You can visit us at WGA contract twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three dot org to find pickets happening in New
Speaker 3: York and LA with upcoming locations across the country coming soon.
Speaker 2: Francesca, you take care, Thank you so much again.
Speaker 1: Good luck all right, Thank you by you know, she
Speaker 1: makes a great point. The shows that make you think,
Speaker 1: make you laugh, make you all those things that we
Speaker 1: need as balance to the real life issues. You need
Speaker 1: escapism through scripted entertainment to get.
Speaker 2: The stress off of your shoulders from real life.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And you know how bad chat GPT is okay, because.
Speaker 3: We've been doing the scripts here on the show and
Speaker 3: that is not going to be able to replace them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, coming back here at Kiss half m
Speaker 1: hang on