USC film students are facing considerable challenges when attempting to transition into the workforce during the ongoing actors and writers strike.
This labor dispute, which influences a wide array of actors, screenwriters, showrunners and various industry stakeholders, also significantly impacts current USC students as they try to establish themselves in the already highly competitive industry.
In the lead-up to the joint strike orchestrated by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA), workers claimed that major players within the realms of television, film and other media enterprises have been exploiting the talents and visionaries within their ranks.
Patric Verrone, a Writer’s Guild Negotiating Committee member and a former president of WGA, said the strike comes at a critical point in American history.
“What this strike is about is the future of this industry because there hasn’t been enough unity amongst the unions over multiple generations,” Verrone said. “We’ve had a lot of issues building up that have been affecting all of us. The companies that are the employers have been unified and able to negotiate together for many, many years. We have not.”
While many artists are currently abstaining from active participation in the field, studios continue to extend job offers during the strike in order to maintain production. Individuals who accept such positions amidst the strike are labeled as “scabs.”
“A ‘scab’ is somebody who takes work… for a company where that work is being stopped by the people who do it under a union contract,” Verrone said. “Anybody who’s a student at USC who wants to be in the Writers Guild or the Screen Actors Guild and who takes the kind of work that we are otherwise withholding would be considered a scab.”
Being branded a scab can carry dire consequences for anyone seeking a foothold in the entertainment industry with aspirations of joining either the SAG or WGA unions.
Easton Foster, a senior majoring in film and television production, expressed concern regarding scabbing as he works toward his final year at USC.
“I’m really worried about scabbing, actually,” Foster said. “I don’t want to be a scab at all. I am in full support of these strikes, and I think that everyone should be. I don’t want to be in support of people who are trying to ruin what I define as art.”
On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that expected profits for the year would be about $300 million to $500 million lower than expected mainly because of the strikes. Video game companies may also be roped into the strike pending a vote later this month.
Many aspiring industry professionals are haunted by the erasure of the industry’s artistry that is being overshadowed by its commercial imperatives. Shubhra Dubey, a senior film production major, said the impact of this struggle extends beyond just business considerations and threatens to give rise to artificial intelligence that would be used to produce art.
“This fear of AI replacing real screenwriters… it’s people preferring to go a cheaper way or a more lucrative way rather than paying screenwriters a fair wage and getting good stories out of that,” Dubey said. “I feel like it’s just kind of this… capitalist agenda that prioritizes making money rather than making good art.”