FNX NOW: NAIWC Strike at Disney Studios

The FNX Team and ICT News were on location at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank California. The joint production offered coverage to some 100 mostly Native and Indigenous picketers who joined NAIWC (Native American & Indigenous Writers Committee) at the joint WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike event.

Organizers and participants included Native American SAG (Screen Actors Guild) actors, writers, and other industry professionals, a Hoop Dancer, and Southern California Bird Singers & Ribbon Skirt Dancers, who all gathered in support of Writers who have been on strike since May 2nd.
The strike aims to achieve better pay, and address issues with AI being used to take jobs away from current writers.

“Headline pieces would be AI and more pay, our pay has actually decreased over time. And we’ve been working more. So it’s just even, even if you don’t count inflation, the numbers have gone down for pay. So in that regard, we’re really fighting for just to be a profession and not just gig work. And as far as AI goes, that is very complicated. And we’re trying to make sure that we’re not replaced, and we can maintain the creative integrity of our work, and not be replaced by robots.” – Shelley Dennis (Choctaw), Writer/WAG Strike Organizer

The segment features Aiko Little (Oglala Lakota) the Vice Chair NAIWC, Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo) Co-Creator and Showrunner for Rutherford Falls, Actor/Writer Marcus LaVoi (Chippewa), and Actor Dennis Garcia (Chumash/Fernandeño Tataviam), and WAG Strike Organizer Shelley Dennis (Choctaw).

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Written by FNX TV