Hollywood picket lines have made their way to New Jersey striking members of The Writers Guild of America are picketing today outside Columbia High School in Maplewood where a renowned director is shooting a Hulu series this week protesting union members say they're trying to shut down the Chute in support of the ongoing Rider strike that includes some 11 000 workers Ted Goldberg reports foreign getting that car to honk we're not trying to mess up a kid's test today there's an active film set there and they probably just had to call cut and start over because that car honked and that's why we're here call it creative sabotage or a call to arms for the writer's Guild of America comedian at West Orange native Chris gethard says the ongoing writers strike has no end in sight so writers will encourage people to honk and mess with filming The Writer's Guild has asked them to talk about about a dozen things and they've only addressed three of them so it's very clear that for these people money is the thing that talks so the workers are out here trying to say well the sooner we can shut off the flow of the money sooner we can get your products to dry up the sooner you have to actually deal with us and take us seriously any television production or Film Production we're going to show up with our pickets and we're trying to delay pause or shut down Productions because we have the support of other teamsters and other unions union members and allies picketed at Columbus High School in Maplewood part of the school is hosting students taking AP exams and another part is an active film set for the new Hulu show Thriller writers say they've successfully shut down other film shoots to bring attention to their demands we're really looking for a fair deal to put it simply we're asking for roughly two percent of the earnings of these companies uh which we think is more than fair given uh how much they profit off of our work I hosted a cable show for three years I've had a screenplay deal and two years ago I lost my health insurance because I couldn't get enough union work I cobbled together about six different full-time things right now the people out here aren't marching because they are part of some Elite sect and they want it to stay that way we are people just cobbling together our mortgages and our insurance one of the biggest issues facing the writers Union is how networks handle residuals and whether or not Riders get more money based on if their work gets more views on streaming platforms I used to host a talk show it's on HBO Max right now no matter how much it gets watched I don't get another dime that's kind of weird by the standards of TV if that aired on a television Network I would get money the growth in streaming it creates an incentive for producers to try to drive labor costs down Susan Sherman is a distinguished professor at the Rutgers Department of Labor studies and employment relations she remembers the last writer's strike almost 16 years ago and thinks the current strike could cause a lot more damage even after wreaking havoc on late night talk shows I think they understand they're looking at a fairly long strike before there's even an impact that is going to be felt outside of as you say late night some have criticized getherd and other writers for interrupting AP tests with incessant honking his response we are honor bound to disrupt the field and say it we're not trying to mess with your kids education or kids school that that you should call the Board of Ed and say why are we in Maplewood already paying 25 Grand a year in taxes and you're turning our kids education into a film set it's weird pickets will continue tomorrow in New York City and Thursday in Jersey City where Netflix is shooting Eric a new show with Benedict Cumberbatch in Maplewood I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news support for the business report provided by the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey working for economic Prosperity by uniting business and Community leaders for 150 years membership and event information online at chamber snj.com [Music]