‘Breaking Bad’ stars protest in Los Angeles; Children’s Television Day New York – Deadline

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This is the 120th day of the WGA strike and the 47th day of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

In the heat of Los Angeles, the cast and crew Too bad And Better Call Saul Hit picket lines Tuesday at Sony Pictures Studios. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Betsy Brandt, Rhea Seehorn, Jesse Plemons, and Matt Jones were among the stars seen strolling by the familiar rainbow in Culver City.

“Honestly, it’s like it’s just getting started,” Paul told Deadline as the SAG-AFTRA strike approached its 50th day on Friday. “It’s important for everyone to know we’re not going anywhere. … We’re fighting a good fight. We stand in solidarity with every SAG member out there, trying to make ends meet, put food on the table, and do what we love.”

One of the main proposals from both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, the latter of which remains a sticking point in negotiations with AMPTP, is the success-based residual projects created for broadcast services.

Since it was first introduced in 2008, Too bad It became one of the highest-rated television series of all time, and Cranston reflected on his ability to share in the success of the series and why SAG-AFTRA would continue to fight for a similar model in the era of streaming.

RELATED: SAG-AFTRA ‘Still Ready at a Moment’ to Resume Bargaining with AMPTP to End Its Strike

The six-time Emmy winner said that creating content for live broadcasts “hasn’t become so much popular as it has become the norm.” “Broadcasting is dwindling year after year after year, and even if you do a radio show, your leftovers will be drastically reduced. When we first started in this business, a long time ago, we relied on leftovers to be able to pay our bills. I mean, part of The business formula was junk, international junk, DVD sales and things like that. But those are gone.”

During the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, the WGA won jurisdiction over projects created for new media. At the time, it was hard to predict that dominance would take place in a decade or so, which is why Cranston says the previous decade “was so general and so low and unsustainable.”

RELATED: The Recreational Community Fund has distributed more than $5.4 million in financial aid to industry workers since the start of the WGA strike

He added, “So here we are now saying that a working actor should get a big raise in order to make ends meet.” “AMPTP is made up largely of business people and MBA holders, and they are very good at their job. Their focus is on making as much money as possible. That is their whole job. So they would love for this to be their film and TV business, but really, it can Selling wrenches or lemonade. It doesn’t matter to them. They just want to make money. That’s what they’re trained for. That’s why we’re different. We want to make a lot of art – and hopefully make a living doing it. That’s really it. .”

While the way forward is not yet clear, Paul added that he sees a path on the horizon for syndicates and studios.

“They just don’t understand the reality of the situation,” said the three-time Emmy winner. “Once the seniors are back on Earth… I really feel like we’re going to find common ground and move ‘forward on this,'” he said.

RELATED: AMPTP Brings DC Crisis PR On Board As Studios Seek To Reset Strike Letters

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, children with painted faces and sit-in signs joined their striking moms and dads outside a toy store in Manhattan, as the Writers Guild of America paid tribute to the creators of children’s and family television.

Stars and writers Sesame Street, assistants, The bear in the big blue house And more spoke at the WGA’s children’s/family TV writers’ solidarity sit-in with SAG-AFTRA at Rockefeller Center, where the world-famous FAO Schwartz toy store and cinema share space with NBCUniversal’s headquarters.

Join the picket line are writers and actors known for more adult or primetime fare, incl Hamilton creative Lin Manuel Miranda, the wire Creator David Simon, and longtime multiple Emmy Award winner Alfre Woodard The Cosby Show Regular Jeffrey Owens.

The sitters also heard from SAG-AFTRA President Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. Crabtree-Ireland, a father of five, ages 3 to 18, began with a bow and clasped hands in a gesture of thanks to “everyone who works on children’s television in this entire district.”

“It’s entertaining as well as educational, and frankly, it’s also a breathtaking moment for parents,” Crabtree-Ireland said of the kind of programming that began at the NBC studios on “30 Rock” with the premiere of “30 Rock.” Hi Dodi in 1947.

Presented by actor and writer Mooghan Zulfiqari, the speakers took turns defending the living wage and protecting against artificial intelligence replacement in the field they love.

“We’re kids at heart,” writer and director Susan Kim told more than 100 sitters, adding that children’s film and television makers like her are not in this business for the money. Kim who wrote the episodes of the children’s series The X-Files of Shelby WuShe said she received—and cashed—equity checks in the amount of no more than 17 cents during her career.

“If I don’t cash it, someone will keep it, and I don’t want that to happen,” Kim said with a laugh.

“A lot of people make a lot of money from what we do,” Kim said, nodding to the shop window behind her.

Alan Muraoka as the owner of the fictional Hooper’s Store Sesame Streetelicited cheers when he called on his striking peers to get “a fair share of this very large piece of pie—or, as one of my friends wanted to use the analogy, cake”.

Noel MacNeil, PBS alumni Sesame Street and an actor, puppeteer, and writer who played a Disney bear The bear in the big blue houseHe praised Public Television in particular for its history of educational programming ranging from Mister Rogers neighborhood to The Magic School Bus.

In his research on AI, MacNeil said all the shows he’s worked on have “picked up people”.

“The whole thing required the writers to sit down and come up with some of the most ridiculous concepts you could ever think of for a puppet to do,” McNeil said. “But we did it because we were having fun.”

Like McNeil, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, an actress, puppeteer, and writer, said she loves her job and it’s dangerous to say it out loud because at that point, people — especially studio executives — think your work isn’t work.

“They think he writes himself,” said D’Abruzzo, who worked on it Sesame Street and a preschool children’s series on PBS Kids donkey hoodieHe told the protesters. “I mean, it’s not easy to make a lifelike doll come to life and be something that people care about. And to tell a compelling story in 11 minutes or 9 minutes or 5 minutes or 3 minutes, including syllabus points that aren’t supposed to sound like syllabus points and using a fraction of the vocabulary that everyone else is allowed to use – it’s not easy.”

referring to the building behind her as her birthplace Hi Dodi“That little kids show sold a lot of Wonder Bread, a lot of Twinkies, and it also sold a lot of TVs to RCA,” said D’Abruzzo. “That’s when the entertainment industry learned the value of children’s television.

She added that the executives of Warner Bros. Discovery said one of the reasons HBO Max switched to Max “is to make it feel more family-friendly” because children’s viewing habits drive streaming choices that depend on the budget parents make.

D’Abruzzo noted that not all participants in Tuesday’s sit-in are on strike.

“Many of us who work in the field of children and family [programming] Here today on different contracts, on the net [Television] She said: Code, PBS contracts. “We are here in solidarity, but we also know that this fight is our fight as well. We know that when the network code is negotiated and the PBS code is negotiated, this will set the direction and set a precedent, and that is vital for all of us.