Shots Fired: Charlie Kaufman Gives Powerful Speech At WGA Awards Night

TV & Film

Mar 9

Image Source: WGA

The Writers Guild Awards occurred on Sunday, March 5th. This is just over two weeks before negotiations between the Writers Guild and Hollywood producers are set to occur. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, known for works including Being John Malkovich (1999) and Netflix’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020), was awarded a Laurel Award honor. During his acceptance speech (via Variety), Kaufman made a bold shot at the hierarchy of Hollywood.

Kaufman began his speech calling out studio executives with, “We are trained to believe that what we do is secondary to what they do.” He followed this by saying, “Our work is to reflect the world, say what is true in the face of so much lying. The rest is window dressing at best,” alluding to well-written propaganda at worst.

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Kaufman moved on with words from poet and activist Adrienne Rich, “Adrienne Rich wrote, ‘I do know that art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage.’” In a tie-in to highlight the importance of what they do as writers and crafters, he continued, “The world is beautiful. The world is impossibly complicated. And we have the opportunity to explore that. If we give that up for the carrot, then we might as well be the executives.”

Toward the end of his speech, Kaufman gave impactful and extremely important advice:

“I have dropped the ball, I have wasted years seeking the approval of people with money. Don’t get trapped in their world of box office numbers. You don’t work for the world of box office numbers. You work for the world. Just make your story honest and tell it. They’ve tricked us into thinking we can’t do it without them. The truth is they can’t do anything of value without us.”

During his speech, Kaufman did not delve into specifics of the Guild or the upcoming meeting. Either way, his words are an inspiration to his colleagues to value what they bring to the table. Depending on the outcome of the negotiations a strike could kick off by May of this year, with more details on that here.

You can listen to his entire speech below.