Cannes jury president supports striking Hollywood writers

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, who heads the jury awarding the Cannes Film Festival’s top award this year, expressed solidarity with striking Hollywood film and TV writers on Tuesday, saying industrial action was the only way to change work conditions.

“It’s great that people have a strong collegial feeling so you can go out and have a strike. That’s how you can change the conditions of your profession, so I’m like ‘yeah, go!'” said Ostlund, who won the Palme d’Or last year for ‘Triangle of Sadness’, a satire exploring economic inequality, as well as in 2017 for art world satire, ‘The Square’.

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Actor Paul Dano, most recently of Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’, said he was planning to get on the picket line as soon as he returned from the festival on the French Riviera.

“My wife is currently picketing with our 6-month-old strapped to her chest, and I will go be there with her on the picket line when I get home from here,” he said, eliciting applause.

Hollywood writers try to strike a love match while picketing

Thousands of Hollywood film and television writers went on strike this month as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first work stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement for higher pay from studios such as Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc.

Top executives close to the discussions have told Reuters that the strike could continue into the summer and possibly beyond.