WGA East Will Picket TV Upfronts – Update

UPDATE: The WGA East has confirmed that it will be out on the picket line for this week’s upfronts on all three days of events, starting Monday.

The pickets will be supported by guest speakers Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Congressmember Maxwell Frost. Presentations are scheduled from NBC, Fox, The View, Disney, Paramount+, Warner Bros. Discovery, and YouTube Broadcast.

EXCLUSIVE: This month’s upfronts in New York City, where the networks pitch their fall lineups to advertisers, would be the target of WGA East picketing if negotiations fail to reach an agreement on a new film and scripted TV contract. The Writers Guild contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are entering their final day today, with the guild’s current contract set to expire tonight at midnight PT.

A list of potential WGA East picket sites obtained by Deadline include the NBCUniversal upfront on May 15 at Radio City Music Hall, Netflix’s upfront on May 17 at the Paris Theater in Manhattan and Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront on May 17 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Other potential picket sites in Manhattan include 30 Rock/NBCUniversal, Netflix’s headquarters and the offices of HBO/Amazon. In Queens, potential picket sites include Silvercup Studios and Silvercup East, while potential picket sites in Brooklyn include Steiner Studios and Broadway Stages.

Here’s the list of potential picket sites and meet-up places the WGA East has sent to its members to see if they are available to picket in the event of a strike. The guild notes, however, that the sites are subject to change. The WGA West list of picket sites is at the bottom of the post.

Strike or no strike, the WGA East will hold a membership meeting to discuss the latest developments on Wednesday at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City.

The WGA West, meanwhile, will hold a membership meeting on Wednesday at the Shrine Auditorium.

“While the WGA Negotiating Committee continues to bargain with the AMPTP with the goal of reaching a fair deal by tomorrow’s May 1st contract deadline, we need to be ready for a potential strike,” the WGA said Sunday in a note accompanying the Member Picketing Survey about when and where they’ll be able to walk picket lines. “The greatest amount of leverage we collectively bring to a strike action is the withdrawal of our labor. Picketing is a key tactic to demonstrate that we are all in this together, and that until a strike is resolved, it’s not business as usual.”

Here are sites of potential picketing that the WGA West has sent to its members: