Alex O’Keefe, a 28-year-old writer for the award-winning FX series “The Bear”, is currently preparing to join a writers’ strike with the rest of the Writers Guild of America (WGA). According to O’Keefe, his writing career has meant relatively little, especially financially. Instead of the glitzy Hollywood lifestyle, O’Keefe said he’s had to make do with a regular, working-class existence. He told The New Yorker that he lived without heat in a small, Brooklyn apartment and wrote at a public library when his power was out.
O’Keefe told The New Yorker that he attended the Writers Guild of America Awards with a negative bank balance and a bowtie bought with credit – and came away with the award for Best Comedy Series. But instead of feeling victorious, he realized that all that glitters is not necessarily gold.
The WGA’s close to 98% of eligible members voted to authorize a strike on Tuesday May 1 if a deal isn’t struck with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Writers are demanding better compensation and residuals, as well as pay for reusing content, due to streaming services cutting costs with the introduction of ‘mini rooms’, fewer writers, and artificial intelligence.
First-time and newer writers for television shows can expect to make between $40,000 to $60,000 for ten weeks’ work after taking subtracting taxes and representative fees, as reported by O’Keefe. Despite the long hours and hard work, the economic reality is tough.
The Writers Guild of America as well as the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers did not comment on the possible upcoming strike. To some, it remains unclear if writers will receive the compensation and pay they deserve, even if their work produces award-winning results.
The Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) is a labor union representing writers in film, TV, radio and news media across the United States and Canada. The union and its members work together to ensure writers receive fair compensation and benefits, rights to their work, and protection against unfair credit and payment practices.
Alex O’Keefe is a 28-year-old writer who has worked on acclaimed movies and TV shows such as FX’s “The Bear” and Senator Elizabeth Warren’s campaign as a speechwriter. O’Keefe is also known best for his work on the Writers Guild of America Awards-winning Best Comedy Series of FX’s The Bear. He has publicly voiced his frustrations about the tough economic reality of working as a writer. Despite his success, O’Keefe has endured poverty and difficult living conditions, with no access to heat or power in his Brooklyn apartment. He continues to fight for his rights as a writer, and is now looking for jobs at movie theaters in preparation for a potential strike.
