Dani Fernandez is a writer and an actor who has been in projects like Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet and shares her success and her love for creating online with her base. Currently, she is on strike with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA while also promoting her brilliant short film titled In the Static (which she wrote and stars in and is directed by Robert Butler III). Her work comes from a place of love, she celebrates the creatives of color she works with, and is always trying to push doors open for latina voices and LGBTQ voices in the industry.
In talking with her about the strikes and her short film, we talked a lot about how those who are open to helping the strikes can, especially now that the WGA has been in this fight for over 100 days. For Fernandez, she was excited when SAG-AFTRA joined the fight and gave the WGA the power they need to keep going. “It was like a manifestation that I wanted to happen that I was praying to the universe because we needed that leverage,” she said. “So I think both of us, while we’re fighting for separately different contracts, we have a lot of overlapping interests and we can use that. SAG has 160,000 members. So to me, it would be wild if we didn’t strike and we had taken a horrible contract that was not protective of us and was not making our career sustainable. Not only are we fighting for us, but we’re fighting for all the future writers and actors that are trying to come up. So, having us together, it felt like the boost that we needed.”
For Fernandez though, she’s also in the middle of celebrating her brilliant short film while still standing on the picket lines for the rights of actors and writers in both strikes. When I asked her about how it felt doing a little promotion for her film while also making sure her future (and the future of writers and actors everywhere) is protected, she was excited to talk about the indie nature of her short and why it is important to still lift those projects that aren’t effected by the studios (and aren’t labeled as “struck work”).
“It’s wild. It came out of, even before the strike that we were making this, it’s a complete indie, like a legit, we financed it ourselves,” she said. “All of my actor friends did it for free. The crew, we paid out of pocket. And so it was not attached to a studio. And I was like, I’m absolutely going to promo this at film festivals and whatnot. And, I don’t know, I think it was kind of just me taking my career into my own hands. I have a pretty stacked writing resume I felt like, and acting. I’ve definitely acted in several different things, but it was just…I have the capability to write my own vehicles, which I’ve been doing. And so it kind of just came from that.
With the strikes, Fernandez has been in the thick of it for over the last 100 days and she even started by posting strike fits on her Instagram. She posted her signs, videos from the picket lines and more.
The initial general excitement from those online (which included fun signs from the writers) was all about how creative the strikes would get. Seeing the signs or now what actors show up to bring buzz to the strikes (and invoke news pieces and more coverage on them) has helped so many keep the strikes at the forefront of their minds. So I asked Fernandez about the excitement with the new buzz that would be brought to the strikes with actors from the signs to who is showing up.
“I saw a tweet when SAG joined our strike that was like, when it got too hot, some guy took his shirt off and they were like, ‘we’re in a different timeline now,'” she said. “We didn’t see that with the writers. I think we’re such a creative people and SAG also covers puppetry and its performers. And so my friends that make puppets, they were out there and their sign said, ‘I’m not a puppet,’ and I loved it. And yeah, let’s show off, we’ve had singers come out, we’ve had musicians, SAG also covers singers. We cover so many people. And so it’s been fun to have such a diverse group of talented folks.”
You can see our full interview here:
Follow Dani Fernandez on her social media to keep up to date on strikes, hitting the picket lines, and sharing your support for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
(featured image: courtesy of Dani Fernandez)
