See Ted Lasso Stars Brendan Hunt & Jason Sudeikis Joining WGA Strike (Video)
Although the strike will not affect Ted Lasso, the creators came to the rally to support their fellow writers.
Writers in the US are on strike for a second week. The Writers Guild of America has been unable to reach an agreement with the media giants over base wage increases, the handling of residuals, and the use of artificial intelligence.
As a result, thousands of people across the country took to the streets to voice their demands and show that they are a key element of film and television production.
The creators of Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, who also play Ted and Coach Beard on the show, also came to support their colleagues in Los Angeles. Even though there are only a few episodes left in the third and final season, they decided to show up because they felt that the issues raised by the union and the writers themselves are universal and affect both them and the industry as a whole.
The creators of one of the most popular sports dramas hit the picket lines on Friday, May 5, appearing outside the walls of Warner Bros., one of Ted Lasso's production companies.
Sudeikis and Hunt have proven to be excellent writers, of course, but they are actors and producers first and foremost. However, they see the cause of the strike as universal and basically about how corporations are stealing from people, not paying them enough and failing to address the ethical issues that come with technological advances.
'The whole Shrine meeting was because this s--- has to stop, you know, at all corners, and the s--- that's coming has to be prevented,' Hunt said, referring to the rally at the Shrine Auditorium, where writers were supported by the other unions such as SAG-AFTRA (representing actors and other media personalities) and the Directors Guild of America.
It is worth noting that these unions' contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expires on June 30, which only means that the writers' strike may be followed by even more massive uprisings.
For his part, Sudeikis talked about how corporate policies affect writers by effectively stealing their ideas and not offering decent pay for the work that can sustain them.
'So we're all here in support of each other, and whatever we have to do in June and the further months, so be it,' the actor concluded. It doesn't seem coincidental that Sudeikis was wearing a hoodie by hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, whose name is almost synonymous with the slogan 'eat the rich.'
We'll find out in June if the protest escalates into a general strike by film industry workers. In the meantime, Ted Lasso will continue to be released on schedule, with the next episode airing today, May 10.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.