The Full Monty series creator Simon Beaufoy and co-writer Alice Nutter have demonstrated their support for the US writers’ strike by picketing the Disney+ show’s premiere, which took place last night (Monday, June 5) in Sheffield.
Nutter posted on Twitter ahead of the premiere, on May 18: “Worked on The Full Monty TV show for 3 years with Simon Beaufoy but as WGA members @WGAWestwriters we are on strike so won’t be doing any promo, interviews or going to our own premieres. It is important to win the WGA writers strike. Solidarity.”
Nutter and Beaufoy didn’t attend the premiere, but greeted the queue outside the cinema with placards saying: “We wrote this show but we can’t go – fair deal for writers” and “The Full Monty, about people, for people, by people, no AI.”
Us two wrote The Full Monty TV series, Simon Beaufoy and Alice Nutter. We couldn’t attend our own premiere, but we did greet queue. WGA Writers on Strike – @WGAWest
It followed unemployed steel workers in Sheffield who get involved in the stripping business to earn a living. It followed unemployed steel workers in Sheffield who get involved in the stripping business to earn a living.pic.twitter.com/HniFQGg6tyYesterday, the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) set a date of June 14 for a protest in London’s Leicester Square in solidarity with WGA.June 5, 2023
WGA members went on strike on May 2, after negotiations broke down between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture And Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA wants better pay, especially in relation to TV compensation and support for the potential impact of generative A.I. The WGGB warned all UK writers and its members to not work on US projects while the WGA was on strike. It advised its members and all UK writers that they may be barred by the WGA from future membership if they do not comply.
If a writer has signed a contract under UK law with a streamer such as Amazon, Netflix and Disney+, and the writer was already under contract at the time the strike was called, the work is not considered “struck work” by the WGA.
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