Writers Strike: Hollywood Stars Picket With Writers At Hudson Yards

HUDSON YARDS, NY — No need to travel to La La Land to see these Hollywood stars. Just head to your local WGA picket line, where an ensemble cast of top-ticket names marched in solidarity with striking writers on Wednesday.

One street alone wasn't enough to contain the hundreds of picketers who gathered on West 31st Street and 10th Avenue as workers from the Screen Actors Guild came in a show of solidarity with the on-strike Writers Guild of America over what they say is a bum deal.

Broadway's Lin-Manuel Miranda stopped by with a box full of donuts to hand out to the picketers, and 'Better Call Saul' star Bob Odinkirk joined the crowd, pausing briefly to talk shop with some friends.

Also among the crowd was "Severance" star Adam Scott and Mandy Patinkin, whose tongue-in-cheek homage to great screen writing appeared on the sign he hoisted into the air: "you killed our residuals — prepare to pay."

One video shows Patinkin yelling "for God's sake — without writers, we're nothing. They create the stories that make our hearts beat."

Cars honked their horns in support as the crowd danced to the brassy sounds of the SNL band, who gave the writers a live show.

"These are the leaders of the world," said script supervisor, and aspiring writer, Kamilah Adachi. "It's important that writers are paid what they deserve."

"It's not easy to make a living from creativity, it takes a lot of sacrifice," she said. "It's a beautiful thing."

Heather, who declined to share her last name, worked on an NBC show that wasn't green-lit. During a six-week stint, her team tried to complete the "impossible" task of writing two scripts and a story bible.

Adding insult to injury, the network wanted to pay all the writers the same amount, "whether they've been a writer for 15 years for 15 minutes," Heather said.

"Those scripts are worth a lot of money," she added. "Who's going to make all that money?"

Heather was surprised to see the enormous crowd, which she would have expected in Los Angeles, but not in New York City. "It's really wonderful to be out here in New York and see so many people," Heather said. "This is really great."

The strike stems from the negotiation woes between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Writers are demanding higher wages, better residuals for streaming, and staffing minimums for projects.

"This action is about more than just our struggles as writers," said WGA West president Meredith Stiehm in an update to members on Monday. "It’s about workers and labor across our country."

"They see their struggle in our struggle. Corporate dominance is trying to drive us to the margins, toward a gig economy — and this union will not allow that," Stiehm said.

The union was attempting to negotiate with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount, and Sony, which all fall under the AMPTP.

Late night talk shows were the first to be affected by the strike, but now shows like "Billions," "Abbott Elementary," "Hacks," "American Horror Story," and "Big Mouth" are all said to be on pause, according to reports.

On Monday, Patch spoke to striking writers outside of Queens' Silvercup Studios.

The creator of "The Wire," David Simon, says that his contract with HBO was suspended as he picketed with writers on Monday, and claimed it was a "strike response and not unexpected."

Additional reporting from Coral Murphy Marcos