1. The WGA and SAG strikes 2023
[1.1] Over the last forty years, WGA (Writers Guild of America) strikes were centrally fought over new media distribution platforms and fair compensation (residuals) from them. In 1985, it was about VHS (and Betamax); in 2007–8 it was about DVD (and especially the DVD box sets of television series) as well as the advent of YouTube and other online video platforms; in 2023, it was streaming. The 2007–8 WGA strike that began on November 5, 2007, ultimately lasted 100 days, and the 2023 strike that concluded on September 27 had spanned a historic 148 days. SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), which had supported the WGA on the picket line from day one, began its own strike on July 14, 2023, and settled it on November 9 of the same year. The endurance of both conflicts and, in both cases, initial refusals of the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, aka the studios' negotiation mouthpiece) to meet any of the unions' demands showcase what was and is at stake in both—as is the fact that the last time both unions had gone on strike together was 1960. A massive shutdown of almost all entertainment production and promotion was the natural (and intended!) consequence. As with all strikes, public support thus was and is crucial.
[1.2] The majority of the public was in support of the 2007–8 writers' strike. For instance, a Nielsen survey from 2008 showed that 77 percent of the eight hundred respondents backed the writers (quoted in Banks 2010); a similar survey from 2023 had only 45 percent of the six hundred respondents supporting WGA and 39 percent SAG-AFTRA (quoted in Lawler 2023). Yet studio support was usually under 10 percent regardless (quoted in Lawler 2023). A game changer for how support for strikes, as well as how unions organized themselves, was ironically the same online platforms that were also at the heart of the conflict back in the mid-2000s: then, WGA made effective use of online platforms, such as hosting a blog called United Hollywood to spread its message to both the public and its own members. Internal email communication that had not been available yet for the previous strikes in the 1980s was equally important (Banks 2010), and as Miranda Banks argues, the existence of special features on DVD had turned some showrunners into recognizable faces for fans (2010), which further helped the cause.
[1.3] In 2023, internal email and other digital communication naturally remained key, but social media also unsurprisingly played a central role in spreading information and awareness. Yet, as every user of platforms like Twitter knows, they can be a double-edged sword—especially post–Elon Musk takeover (note 1) and the ever-problematic presence that is Mark Zuckerberg's hold on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Those strikers who were especially active on Twitter, like writer-director Caroline Renard, repeatedly clashed with other users—some of whom also self-identified as fans—who acted as if they knew the industry better than those actually working in it, leading to frustration and frequent conflict (note 2). Further splintering of users, often along generational lines to newer platforms like TikTok, likely also made raising awareness harder, even though both unions maintained a continued presence there, too.
2. Fan solidarity and conventions
[2.1] Yet, this also made it easy for fans to share their content further, and a lot of them not only spread the message individually but also set up larger support structures to do so. The hashtag #fans4WGA, which was anchored across platforms on perennial fan favorite Tumblr (https://www.tumblr.com/fans4wga), is one such example. Back in 2007–8, fans had also shown their support with the group Fans4Writers (https://www.fans4writers.com/), an outgrowth of the Whedonverse fandom, and walked picket lines and delivered food to them. Central now and then were monetary donations, chiefly to the Entertainment Community Fund, which supports artists across the industry, a process greatly eased by online platforms. Despite such widespread support, fans were often confused by how exactly they could best help and what to avoid, particularly as SAG-AFTRA went on strike with its own set of rules that more directly affected fans. While the union posted these rules online on its official website, they initially left large swaths of fans confused. This confusion centered on two central issues: (1) Would actors still be able to attend conventions and other fan events as the strike was ongoing? and (2) Would the creation of any fannish content (even in the form of social media posts) automatically constitute promotion?
[2.2] The answer to the first question was quickly solved as actors were allowed to attend conventions to sign autographs or take pictures (some actors' main source of income), but they were not allowed to discuss struck work at panels—and struck work under SAG-AFTRA rules meant virtually anything made by big studios/conglomerates, including long-concluded projects (Associated Press 2023). The biggest event directly impacted was San Diego Comic Con, as the panels there are official studio promotion, which meant barely any unionized creators could or would attend. SAG-AFTRA even set up a picket line joined by cosplayers outside the event (Sederholm 2023). ATX Television Festival, in Austin, Texas, also went ahead as planned and featured several pro-strike panels and general buzz among fans and creators alike (Travers 2023).
[2.3] But the situation also led to such oddities as Star Trek Las Vegas—still the largest Star Trek convention, even though no longer under official Paramount sponsorship—taking place, but without any discussion of the franchise being allowed. (The only exceptions were animated series, such as Lower Decks.) Fans I have spoken to and reactions on social media suggest that the event was a great success regardless—regular attendees on both sides even welcomed the opportunity to ask and answer questions that were out of the ordinary. Some of the actors who participated happened to be members of SAG-AFTRA leadership (such as Michelle Hurd and Anthony Rapp), who later praised the event on their social media channels (note 3). The one exception was an incident involving actor Robert Beltran, who gleefully broke strike rules and, when quickly faced with criticism, ended up blocking several fans on Twitter. Presumably, however, people in the room with him at the convention were less easily rebuffed (note 4).
[2.4] The Star Trek fandom remains a much-cited example within fan studies, perhaps to the point of oversaturation, and yet events like this prove that it remains a vital case study. Fans and writers of both WGA West and WGA East also organized a Star Trek–themed picket line in Los Angeles and New York for Star Trek Day (September 8) that was well attended, including by several actors, despite SAG-AFTRA not being an official co-organizer. As someone who personally joined the picket outside of Paramount offices on Times Square, it was heartening to see the mix of people coming together in solidarity. This example shows not only fan solidarity with creators but also the increasingly blurred lines between stakeholders, such as self-proclaimed fans who have engaged with the franchise professionally. Many of those in attendance were bloggers and journalists, others authors of Star Trek novelizations, some of whom started out as fanfic writers (note 5).
3. The murky waters of fan labor in the age of social media
[3.1] Blurred lines like these are also what brings us to the conundrum of question two: whether or not fan labor constitutes a promotion of struck work under current SAG-AFTRA strike rules. The union's strike website FAQ for influencers, posted in 2023, answers "Am I allowed to promote struck work on social media as a fan and not in a paid capacity?" with "Influencers should refrain from posting on social media about any struck work regardless of whether they are posting organically or in a paid capacity" (https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/influencer-faqs). This originally caused mass confusion about whether fans simply discussing their favorite television shows or films on any social media would mean they crossed a picket line, leading to several media outlets putting out articles clarifying the rules (Associated Press 2023; Radulovic 2023; Vicino, Gracewood, and Formo 2023).
[3.2] As both WGA and SAG-AFTRA were and are also strict about aspiring union members' behavior during strikes (for example, anything considered crossing a picket line could cost you future membership), it further worried some fans—and led to misunderstandings yet again, as people called out others they suspected of scabbing (even WGA writers who operated under different rules than SAG-AFTRA). Yet, crucially, as no consumer boycotts were called by the unions, watching and engaging with the existing content as fans remained unaffected by the strikes. In fact, some union members made the argument that should viewer numbers drop (especially of shows made by marginalized creators) it could negatively affect their ability to produce content in the future (Associated Press 2023).
[3.3] The operative term in the quote above, however, is "influencer"—so a person directly compensated to promote studios' work in a way that would make it difficult to distinguish between sponsored and organic content—but who exactly counts as an influencer and who doesn't is a question that increasingly complicates the experience of online fandom. It is in many ways the ultimate consequence of social media and its ever-changing platforms, and Aaron Bady (2023), writing for Slate, asked crucial questions about the consequence of such blurred lines between fans and creators:
[3.4] Are fans "creatives"? Do they contribute to the production of cultural value only by buying and talking about and being a passive recipient of a commodity that is actually produced by creative artists? Or are fans an organic and necessary part of the process by which a show, a character, or a franchise comes to be worth something? If fans produce "content" that has value—especially as studios are increasingly turning to influencers to fill the void of celebrities on red carpets—then why isn't their creativity labor?
[3.5] Fan labor is something fan studies has long discussed, but arguably, it will continue to play an even more central role in the coming years—for us as researchers of fans but also for the industry at large. Bady nails it on the head when he says that "something fundamental about cultural labor changed the moment we agreed to call it the production of 'content'" (2023), and we will have to continue to grapple with this.
4. Why does this matter for us as scholars?
[4.1] While all of this points toward a lot of potential subject matter for future study, I would be remiss to not close this piece by making a larger point about why and how the strikes directly affect us as scholars. I have long felt that the parallels between academe and the entertainment industry are striking (pun intended) when it comes to the exploitation of labor. In another piece I wrote at the beginning of the WGA strike in May (Mittermeier 2023), I drew comparisons between the lack of compensation academic writers receive for their labor and how we now largely produce this writing for conglomerates that profit off us. Another parallel here is the role of AI for either profession—something WGA's fight just secured would not affect screenwriters in the near future, but it will be a continued point of contention regardless. (It also was, and continues to be, a central issue in SAG-AFTRA's negotiations.)
[4.2] Yet more crucially, the lack of compensation for research labor has gotten worse as an ever-increasing number of scholars are adjuncts, essentially relegated to gig workers paid for teaching and nothing else. This gig economy is also a core feature of the entertainment industry, affecting almost any worker under its umbrella. One of the issues successfully renegotiated in the WGA strike was about so-called mini [writers] rooms, which meant fewer and less secure jobs, especially for marginalized screenwriters who previously had at least some job security on longer-running projects.
[4.3] I also believe that centrally, the reason both professions are filled with passionate workers who get so readily exploited is that we are all being sold the idea that scholarship and creative work are vocations or callings—that they are privileges we have to suffer for, rather than the white-collar jobs they actually are. This sentiment also hinders unionization in academia in many countries (I at least can speak for Germany where this very much is the case). Thus, we should look to the entertainment industry's unions in this hot labor summer 2023. The fact that both WGA and SAG-AFTRA managed to negotiate such a vast improvement on residuals and job security for their profession should give us inspiration. And hope. Because it showed us clear as day that there's power in a union. Join one.