124. Life After Strike

A labor strike of any kind brings tremendous concerns about income. As the Writers Guild of  America nee WGA is in an ongoing dispute with the AMPTP, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, with SAG-AFTRA requesting a strike authorization,  Tiwana Floyd is reminded of her first experience overcoming the adverse impact of the 2007 writers' strike, 2008 SAG stalemate the great recession of 2007-2009.

She shares the non-traditional route she took towards becoming solvent and lowering her overhead becoming more frugal and resourceful and more mindful of her spending habits. While reminding her listeners that life after a strike can be challenging, but getting back on track isn't impossible.

It was difficult to adjust to the changes that were implemented but she managed to find ways to cope. The strike affected her finances, and she had to make some sacrifices to make ends meet.

Financial Assistance Links
CalFresh - https://benefitscal.com
entertainment community fund - https://entertainmentcommunity.org
sag-aftra foundation - https://sagaftra.foundation

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Transcript

Beware the Ides of March (echo)

My Shakespeare folks should know precisely where that saying comes from. It was a line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar when the soothsayer warned Julius that his life was in danger.

 Tis a warning to watch out for betrayal or misfortune. It refers to March 15th, the day Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated. And,while it's NOT the month of March it is the month where writer’s March as they strike for better wages. And actors are pulling up the rear to do the same. As a strike authorization has already been released from SAG-AFTRA.

Only time will tell the depths of betrayal and misfortune we will experience this time around. Right now, I am reminded of how I survived the writer’s strike of 2007. I’ll share my experience, how I came out on the other side, it’s a history I am not willing to repeat. 

(cue music)

Welcome to Acting Lessons Learned. It's me, Tiwana Floyd. returning from hiatus. You know…planning a break and a three week trip back to NY was serendipitously perfect timing. I didn’t miss much on the acting front because productions were coming to a halt in expectations of a possible writer’s strike.

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that we are in the early stages of a labor strike. The WGA, Writers Guild of America the union representing almost 12,000 writers is in an ongoing dispute with the AMPTP, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which began a little over two weeks ago on May 2, 2023.

If you’ve been putting off that much needed vacation because you wanted to remain available for auditions, a writer’s strike is your cue to plan that trip. But, be mindful with your finances because one thing I know for sure, strikes of any length can cause financial ruin, and not just for the writers, for us all.

But, before I dive into this episode, (sing) Do You Know What Today Is? It's my anniversary. Acting Lessons Learned is celebrating its one-year anniversay. (air horn) I posted my first episode on May 10, 2022. (applause) yusss applause. 

I’m patting myself on the back for doing it scared. This podcast began as a blog in 2013. In total I wrote and published 9 blog posts. but my lack of discipline and infrastucture caused me to lose interest and stop production. When I decided to turn ALL into a podcast I was scared I would drop the ball of consisentcy again. Actually, I was more afraid I wouldn’t have anything worthwhile to talk about or my content wouldn’t be interesting to build an audience. Here I am, a year later with 23 episodes published and a modest 1700 downloads. And I have to thank you, Actor Fren, for listening to my actor tales.

Full transparency, had I known how much effort and time goes into producing a podcast I might not have been here talking to you now. I’ve had some hiccups along the way. But my commitment to to being committed brought me this far to tell you it maybe take a lot of work, but the rewards of helping others and having my own IP out weigh the challenges. 

Let me encourage you to do that thing you’ve been wanting to do but may have been too scared to do, or didn’t have the time. Do it scared, and definitely do it now. Cuz you got time! You’re getting like what 40-hours a week back from all them self-tapes that have ceased. Lol.

 Ok, so, were you around for the last writers strike in 2007, that lasted four long months. And then after that was the Screen Actors Guild’s three month stalemate with the majors that caused a big L for collective bargaining when AFTRA (then separate union) made a deal that undercut television wages for actors. Remember that. AND THEN it was all that happening during the great recession of 2007-2009, it was a trio of troubling times

I’m seeing parallells of 2007 showing up today. The strike starts off leisurely, everyone is unified and seemingly optimistic. It's serious, yet the strike leaders try to make it light, there are daily themes, donuts, snacks, coffee are dropped off. Colleagues are reconnecting and networking. Folks take photos for the gram. 

Then around week four, it increasingly becomes difficult as we feel the squeeze of not receiving weekly income. Finally both sides agree on a common ground, we return back to work and start financial recovery. And that takes time. 

How long did it take you to bounce back from the 2007-2009 labor crisis? It took me two years. That was my first official struggling actor moment and was not enjoyable.  

My first time experiencing a strike as an actor in Hollywood was rough. And I don't know if anyone can fully prepare for the effects a strike can have on one's livelihood. But after 2009, I changed my lifestyle so that if a financial crisis of any nature occurred again, I would hope to not be in the same situation as last time. I say hope because this is a volatile industry. And anything can sweep your feet right up under you.

I had four saving graces that allowed me to maintain peace of mind around my future as an actor.

To give you a timeline of events, I moved to LA in 2005 and booked my first national commercial in June 2007 months before the trio of troubling times occurred. I was fortunate to have residuals income during the strike. SInce I was still new to LA I wasn’t getting auditions and didn’t book more work once the writer’s strike ended. When the commercial and residuals stopped in 2008 my finances were waning quickly. To supplement my income, I took a job at Apple The Grove. 

which was divine order because my knowledge of tech was limited to my apple desktop and classic iPod. Working at Apple was not on my radar, but my spirits guides always have my back and only to the degree that I take action on the intuitive hits they send me. 

This job came to me one late night while on my computer scrolling either myspace or Facebook. A simple ad to apply to Apple, seemed easy since I would’nt have to go into the store. I had 10+ years of high-end retail experience from NY to LA, and I figured, at the very least, I'd get an interview.

I applied and I forgot about it.

Several weeks I later was invited to a group interview which was bizarrer to me becasue I had never partcipated in a group interview and come to think of it, Apple was the onlu group interview I did that wasm\n’t an audition.

Now I have to tell you abou tthe interview because it’s integral to my labor strike/stalemate recovery period.  

When I arrived there were about 50 applicants there, of all races, ages, genders, cuz  you know, it’s Apple and they’ve always fostered inclusivity in the work place. 

I sat next to a Black woman a few years older to me her name was JW. I’d learn she was a 20 year veteran in TV having worked on well known network shows as a script supervisor. She was pretty, with a kind face and friendly and she struck up conversation with me which put me at ease because I was intimidated by this tech interview. I didn’t know what to expect. We shared the same sentiment of possibly not taking the job, but at the same time we were looking to get back on solvent ground. We concluded that if we were offered the position we’d take it and then quit when our respective jobs began to pick-up.  

I was hired as a specialist and JW as a concierge. It was a no-brainer. Apple paid well, they only hired part-time. You’d have to earn a full-time position which was perfect. So many of the employees were always wanting extra shifts, with that many people on staff it was damn near impossible to not have someone cover a shift with 24 hours notice. 

It allowed JW and I to get off when we worked on shows and pick-up shifts if we were in-between shows. JW and I became quick friends. I was still working on clearing the debt I accumulated from the impact of the writer’s strike 

but the management team at APPLE was a little over-bearing for my taste, so after a year, in 2009 I left and took an even better paying job on weekends only, but it was in Costa Mesa where I met my LA BFF. 

And then I thought it would be a good idea to lower my overhead by releasing my west Hollywood studio apartment to move in with two roommates. Me and two other actresses, both NYrs like me found a spacious loft apartment in West LA. I took the loft space, and I turned it into a bedroom, it had a huge patio. This seemed like a great idea, accept, I’m an only child and never had roomates before. And one of the loft walls was made of plexiglass. The landlord lied about the material he’d use to close of the loft and since we didn’t have it writing, I spent a year listneing to pots and pans baging below if one of the ladies were in the kitchen. Thankfully, that was the least of the noise I’d hear. But over time, we stopped getting along. 

The experience wasn't catastrophic like most LA roommate horror stories I hear about. We just weren’t a fit, but we did share many rsources on growing our craeers

We never set out o be great friends, we were only coming together to save money and build our careers. Not only did I pay off 75% off my debt, I booked my first tv co-star. 

In 2010, after a year, we all moved out. And like most Los Angeles roommate stories we don't speak to this day. (laugh) But I still hold some awesome memories from when we were cool. You know that saying a season, a reason, a lifetime, we were in it for a season. A season ov fincial recovery.

When it came time for us to leave the spacious loft, I didn't know what part of town I wanted to live in next. West LA was too far west, Weho wasn’t near any highways. What I knew for sure was I wanted live in a central location to most of my auditions and I wanted to pay less than $1000. Buuuuuut, even though I had paid off 75% of debt, my credit credit was bad. The struggling actor life only allowed me to pay rent on time. All those late credit card payments had dropped my fico like it was hot. Getting an apartment with my low fico score, I believe it was low 600s at the time, diminished my options of where I could live. 

 Because I had kept in touch with JW from Apple I knew that she was back to working as a script supervisor on a network show that took her on location for two years. Prior to my moving out from the roommates, JW had asked me if I knew of anyone looking to sublet her large one-bedroom apartment. I didn’t at the time, but now I did. I called her and asked if her apartment was still available. It was, but I couldn’t afford her rent. I told her would I could pay and asked if she was accept that. She countered with gas, electric and wifi. And we had a deal. I moved into JW’s large, peaceful one bedroom apartment in mid-city. The location was perfect. What was better was not having roommates or the noise of others. I slept a lot. I didn’t know how exhausted I’d become from the energy depletion.  

Now the industry was back up to speed and it was time for me to pay off the remainder of my debt and acclimate to Hollywood’s timing.  I took three more flxible part-time jobs

paid off my remaining debt, hired a career coach and began marketing myself to casting directors. 

I took financial literacy classes at the Actors Fund, now known as Entertainment Community Fund, if you in entertainment experiencing financial issues, you want to check out the Entertainment Community Fund. They foster stability and resiliency, providing a safety nets for performing arts and entertainment professionals. They are govenrment funded and if you are member of an entertainmenr union, there are even more free resources to help you. 

Im JW’s space I finialized my transition from broke actor to solvent actor. JW was going set to return to LA and now I had to find an apartment. But my Fico hadn’t matured to an acceptable number. 

But I found an apartment while walking in JWs neighborhood. A beautiful nice-sized studio in a 12-unit rent stabilized building. Hardwood floors, South facing windows, with lots of light, a seperate kitchen with new cabinets, new bathroom tiles, walk in closet, curb appeal and the rent was only $850. 

I had to have it. I beleive in transparency. I wasn’t going to wait for the owner to get excited about me only to run my credit to tell me no. I had printed a copy my credit report and I told her upfront, look, my credit is bad. She said how bad is it. I gave her my credit report and she looked disappointed but she had questions. She asked why my credit was bad. I told her I was an actor, about the writer’s strike, the SAG stalemate and the recession. I had to be late on my credit cards, but one thing I was never late on was my rent. 

She said she had to discuss it with her partner. A few weeks of back and forth, she said she could only lease it to me if I paid almost double the security. I said BET! And I’ve been here since 2011 and that’s when I got back on my feet. Since then I’ve booked 40 national commercials and 24 tv series roles. 

While my rent has increased over the years I still have relativley low rent in today’s high rent climate. 

This apartment has allowed me to keep my overhead low without feeling like I live a small existence.

If there are any takeaways I want you to know that strikes are hard, but they are catalysts for change. Change in the industry, change in our life. 

We, creatives are about to face the fight for our lives with the AMPTP. I don’t know how long this labor dispute will go on, but with AI being a converstion they want to avoid when we have zero protections in place in that area I can only deduce this strike will be lengthy.

Use this time for extreme self-care, to determine the next phase of your life. Be wise with your finances. Contrary to what many will have you to believe, it may not be the best time unnecessary classes. Especially if your funds are already tight. 

If you need to take a job outside of the industry do so and just know that it’s temporary. Give yourself an out time, or an after you clear a certain amount of debt, or a you've saved the amount that would give you peace of mind.

Finally, be in solidarity with the WGA SAG-AFTRA, DGA, IATSE, and any of the sister unions. We are all deserved of being paid our worth. 

That’s it for this episode of Acting Lessons Learned

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I’ll see you back here in two weeks. Bye…