AJ Buckley on writers strikes
SEAL Team, like many other productions in the USA, could find themselves heavily impacted by the proposed WGA strikes.
The strikes could start by Tuesday as the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers and WGA struggle to find a middle ground.
The AMPTP represent the Hollywood studios, networks, streamers and other distributors of content while the WGA represents the writers.
In short, the WGA are keen for compensation for writers in a changing media landscape as they seek to renegotiate the terms of contracts with the AMPTP.
If the strikes go ahead, it will heavily impact the ongoing productions of a vast number of TV shows and projects, leaving a reported 822,000 direct employees at risk, per Deadline.
Keen not to see the industry he love be devastated in such a way, SEAL Team star AJ Buckley released an urgent plea for the writers to avoid strike action.
He said in a video shared to his Instagram page: “So I’ve been trying to figure out how to put this into words or whether to write a letter or what. I said screw it, I’ll just put it out there, give my opinion on something.
“I don’t usually like to do this at all, I don’t think I’ve ever done this so… But I cannot sit back and not say anything.
“The writers, there’s a pending strike and yes there are things that need to be negotiated, 100 percent, I agree wholeheartedly, there are things on the actors’ side that needs to be negotiated.
“But we have just come out of two and a half years of one of the worst economic disasters with this Covid stuff that we’ve been through. Crippled some people, people lost their houses (and) businesses, everything.
“Now, some of you big writers, producers, whatever, you’re able to weather this storm. Some actors, you’re able to weather this storm. But my concern is the people that – at the end of every season, the writers get up and they thank the crew.
“They thank the crew in their awards speeches, can’t do anything without the crew, this crew’s a family, would not have been able to have done this without the endless hours of work that the crew put in.
“They’re there three hours before, they make sure your egg whites are just perfect and your avocados are just right and your little chairs pulled up to the monitor and they’re there three hours after so that your world that you put on the page is created.
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“And if there are budget cuts, they figure out a way to do it on the same level so there is no compromise in production value. They work harder.”
Addressing the writers directly, Buckley pleaded: “I want you to think of those people if you’re sincere in all those speeches that you give, that you’re gonna hurt the most because it will be catastrophic.
“Nothing that you will ever negotiate will make up for the economic disaster you will cause. Yes, there is a time and a place to strike but it is not now. We’re in a massive recession and I’m asking you to find a way to work through the strike in good faith and negotiate.”
Buckley added: “It is not fair to our crew and all the other small businesses. The ripple effect from this is going to be catastrophic.”
SEAL Team seasons 1-6 are available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK now.
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