For over two weeks, members of the Writers Guild of America have been striking outside of television studios. Now, beloved writer Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman, American Gods, Good Omens, Stardust, and many other novels, comics, screenplays, and teleplays, has joined their ranks.
The WGA strike began on May 2, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to renew their contract with the WGA. The WGA demanded higher pay, better working conditions, and an assurance that AI wouldn’t replace human writers.
Since the strike began, many recognizable faces have joined the picket lines. Many are writers, while others are actors and other entertainment industry professionals expressing solidarity with writers.
Earlier this week, a Tumblr user fuckyeahgoodomens spotted Gaiman at one picket site, holding a sign and wearing a striking red t-shirt.
Although the video doesn’t have sound because it’s a gif, fuckyeahgoodomens transcribed what Gaiman is saying. “I care so much for the things that I’ve written but I’m out here right now not working and here until we get a good contract because I care about the future of the WGA, the future of young writers,” Gaiman says.
Gaiman also explains that he’s wearing “the first red t-shirt I’ve worn since 1987,” which presumably is a reference to the WGA strike of 1988, which went from March 7 to August 7 and was the longest WGA strike in history. The t-shirt reads “Pencils the F*ck Down” and shows the WGA’s design of an upraised fist with a pencil in it. His sign reads, “That’s your counter offer? Really???”
Although many fans know him as a novelist and graphic novelist, Gaiman is also an accomplished writer for TV and film. His most recent project was writing the scripts for all six episodes of Good Omens season 1, and co-writing all episodes of the forthcoming season 2. He also wrote the scripts for the BBC’s Neverwhere, the English language dub of Princess Mononoke, the Doctor Who episodes “The Doctor’s Wife” and “Nightmare in Silver,” among many other projects.
(featured image: Neilson Barnard/Getty)
