NEW YORK CITY, NY — As the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America strikes rage on without deals, creators are getting—well, creative—in an effort to help their own continue to earn a living.
The Union Solidarity Coalition, an organization founded this year by writers and directors, is now offering a range of unusual and even outrageous celebrity items and experiences for auction. Proceeds for these auctions, which range from “Parker Posey’s Personal Collection of Dazed and Confused +Party Girl Memorabilia” to “Natasha Lyonne Will Help You Solve the New York Times Sunday Crossword,” will go to crew members whose healthcare benefits are in jeopardy now that they are out of work.
Currently, the most sought-after experience offers the person with the highest bid—currently sitting at $9,300—a chance for “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” actor Bob Odenkirk and comedian David Cross to join them for dinner. The next most coveted experiences offer one lucky person the chance to be serenaded by the cast of “Bob’s Burgers” and a “Virtual Story Basics Session” with Spike Jonze and Lena Dunham, for $7,000 and $5,100, respectively.
The offbeat nature of some of the experiences has sparked plenty of memes online as users share their own (fake) auction items based on their own favorite films, shows, and celebrities.
“Junior Soprano and Bobby Bacala will come to your next family event and ‘pay their respects,'” reads one post shared by a fan of “The Sopranos” on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The deeper you get into social media fan culture scrolling, the more niche the memes get, making referencing to plotlines or moments and rumors involving the cast that only the most plugged in fans would recognize. See “Mindy Kaling will confirm whether BJ Novak is the father of her children,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to the longtime rumor about the relationship between the two co-stars from “The Office.”
That’s just for fun, though. The purpose of the real auction—though the offerings feature Hollywood’s elite and are up for grabs only to those whose with deep pockets—is meant to lend a helping hand to those in the entertainment industry who are struggling even to stay afloat financially.
It has been more than four months since WGA and three months since SAG-AFTRA went on strike. As the months drag on with no fair deal that would allow them to return to work, many people in the entertainment industry, from actors, writers, and directors to crew members, have lost the ability to make ends meet.
The last time the WGA struck, the 100-day 2007-08 strike, the economic coast totaled between $2 billion and $3 billion to the Los Angeles economy, according to various cost estimates. And that’s not just studios’ profits and writers’ wages — the ripple effects hit everyone from bus drivers and caterers to makeup artists and clerical workers.
Leaders of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA speak in similar themes about their fight against studios: As streaming and mergers have completely changed the way Hollywood does business over the last decade, contracts haven’t kept up with those changes, nor have wages.
Priot to the strike, there had been a stalemate in negotiations over issues including formulas for streaming-content pay and protections over the use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA leaders have accused the studios of negotiating in bad faith.
“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life,” the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade group that represents studios, said in a statement at the start of the strike. “The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless people who depend on the industry.”
Chris Lindahl contributed reporting.
