At the peak of the Writers Guild strike, about 550 industry showrunners sought solace in a virtual place. A WhatsApp group chat that had been started at the outset of the strike by Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec ballooned, as some of the most verbose and engaged people in town suddenly had a lot more free time on their hands. The group included some of the most powerful names in the entertainment industry — Shonda Rhimes, Damon Lindelof and Kevin Williamson — to name but a few. And because it was invitation-only, encrypted and thus a (somewhat) private forum, participants felt comfortable sharing information and strategies on how writers and their guild should navigate one of the toughest periods in the industry’s history. During the strike it helped build solidarity, and when it flexed people noticed; the group helped raise almost $600,000 in less than a week to help support struggling film and TV workers.
Sure there were occasional tiffs (like the time Craig Mazin quit the chat after getting into a fight with another showrunner). At some point, it was decided it might be prudent to have group messages disappear not after a week but within 24 hours. But in September, right around the time that the WGA and the AMPTP were inching closer to a deal, things got particularly tense.
One faction in the chat started circulating a pledge urging other participants — especially white male showrunners — to agree to. Several sources described it as a ‘commitment-to-diversity’ pledge and even though it was non-binding and largely symbolic, it would at least establish a record of showrunners who were committed to supporting BIPOC writers at a time when many felt the industry, post-strike, was headed towards further cost-cutting and layoffs. “I ‘signed’ it because I believe in diversity,” says one showrunner who is male and white. “But it also felt like if I didn’t it could be used against me.”
Then came the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas on Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis with hundreds more kidnapped and taken into Gaza as hostages. It didn’t take long for the pain, suffering and rage caused by that day to hit Hollywood, where Jewish presence and identity has been central since the industry’s founding. In the days after the attacks, showrunners posted news links and started questioning why the WGA had so far refused to issue any statement in support of Israel as it had done for other groups during other recent political and social convulsions. Instead of being met with solidarity from all the other showrunners, pro-Israeli showrunners felt like they were being attacked, with a number of other participants led by writer Boots Riley openly criticizing Israel. “It felt like a total and complete betrayal,” one source says.
Welcome to Hollywood’s WhatsApp Wars.