Broadway Bound: WGA Strike Solidarity Takes To Tony Awards:

The WGA compromised on its initial bullish stance to deny the Tony Awards a waiver to proceed with the 76th Annual Tony Awards on June 11. As it stands, the Tony Awards show will continue but in an unscripted format, which will likely result in a creatively restricted show given this limitation.

As a practicing entertainment law attorney of over 20 years, I was a baby lawyer but remember very distinctly the impact that the WGA strike had on my colleagues and business in 2008. At that time, those hardest hit were squarely in the eye of the storm. It was about striking and blocking the work at the studio and network level. At that time, the WGA exhibited grace and empathy in its waivers and strike rules. This recent concession is an indication that waivers can be reached, so as not to cause innocent civilians (in this case, the Broadway community) with a severe consequent of the strike.

Max Grossman, an agent who represents several clients in the Broadway space at A3 Artists Agency reiterates the struggle.

“The timing of this strike is unfortunate, and our first and foremost priority is to support our clients. As representatives for writers in both the film and TV space, and many who straddle both, we are in a complicated position,” says Grossman. “We want to do all that we can to support the WGA, but at the same time are cognizant that the theatre community is only just starting to recover from the impact of the pandemic.”

To stand in the way of the 2023 Tony Awards simply because it is broadcast on CBS and Paramount+ is causing more direct harm to the peripheral stage community that desperately needs exposure and visibility in this award show. The reasoning for this escalated posturing is related to timing. Next week, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) begins its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). If there is a chance of coming to a resolution ahead of the cutoff date on June 30, then escalating strike efforts may in fact pay off. But there is one looming question here: what happens if DGA and SAG-AFTRA settle, and WGA is still left unresolved?

Adding further strain and duress to the ‘working writer,’ the WGA has taken a very strong position on the meaning of solidarity. In particular, multi-hyphenates (writer/director/producers), writers in animation and independently financed projects are standing frozen in fear that the WGA may make an example on any peripheral violation of strike rules. Furthermore, networks and studios are taking caution to comply with strike tactics whether or not they actually comply – things like showing up to sets to force production shutdowns and complying with talent requests to not attend any award or press event that can be construed as affiliating with the struck company.

The result is that talent is censored by their membership for fear that any attempt to improve their career or earn revenue may end up interpreted as a scab strike activity. While we have not yet publicly experienced the WGA making an ‘example’ out of a member, some writers are fearful that they will be the one that will go down.

Utilizing the strike to accelerate a mutually agreeable solution is something I understand. As both sides should remember, the point of the strike is for the strike to end and most importantly, for people to figure out how to continue making content moving forward. But that sight feels lost in another casualty that is the now modified and unscripted Tony Awards.

View this article at Forbes.