Posted in: Conventions, Events, Movies, NYCC, Pop Culture, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amptp, new york comic con, NYCC, SAG-AFTRA, wga, writers' strike

NYCC 2023: ReedPOP VP on WGA/SAG-AFTRA Impacts, Clarifies Cosplaying

ReedPOP's Kristina Rogers on how changes with the SAG-AFTRA & WGA strikes could impact NYCC 2023 and what cosplayers need to know.

If you wanted to know what San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) was like back in the old days when it was pretty much just a comic book convention, you got a small taste of that during the 2023 edition of the long-running pop culture event. Facing the fallout from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA striking at the same time (because of wasted negotiating time on the AMPTP's part), the television & film side of things had to be dialed back dramatically – in many instances, panels shifted to screenings with teaser, trailers, and behind-the-scenes featurettes (filmed before the strikes began) released to make up for the lack of writers and actors to promote their respective projects. But with less than two weeks to go, ReedPOP's New York Comic Con (NYCC) is already facing a situation far different from what SDCC faced – and there might be more "chaotic good" on the way before NYCC kicks off.

As most of you know by now, the WGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement that officially ended the writers' strike and is expected to be ratified by the union this week. In a profile piece on the four-day East Coast event (including an interview with Kristina Rogers, VP of ReedPop's global comics portfolio) by The Hollywood Reporter, we learned that the end of the writer's strike has found the con "currently in talks to book writers, with names set to be announced." That could result in some substantial changes to the schedule in that programs that were expected to be screenings could end up becoming panels or Q&As.

And then there's SAG-AFTRA, who will meet with the AMPTP on Monday to hammer out a new three-year deal. If the talks go the way that WGA's talks went, there could (and we can't stress that enough) be a tentative agreement in place by or during next weekend. That would mean NYCC would be looking at both strikes resolved prior to any potential preview night on Wednesday, October 11th. While that might be too late for some major changes, it doesn't rule out the possibility of some "surprise guests" appearing in person (though it's vibing like we could see a lot of last-minute video messages dropping during the event). Whether or not a deal is in place, attendees can expect SAG-AFTRA and the National Association of Voice Actors to team up on an AI-themed panel during the event.

"Now that the WGA strike has concluded, we welcome the writers to NYCC. We are already in touch with several studios about getting their writers credentialed so they can join existing programming. We haven't been approached yet about new programming, and it would be challenging to make it work this close to the event. But we're open to having those conversations and seeing what we can do if we feel like the fans would really, really appreciate it being added," Rogers shared when asked about how the convention is approaching the writers' strike ending and requests by studios to have writers involved during their respective events. "We could get a call the week before to add these people, and we need all these credentials, so it'll be interesting. But all our events are chaotic. We thrive in chaotic good."

In addition, Rogers addressed the issue of cosplay, cosplayers, and what can/Can't go on while there's still a strike in play. "SAG [-AFTRA] also went through and addressed this. I'm really grateful for the work they did because not a lot of people think about fan conventions, and they went out of their way to be specific about cosplayers. If you're attending an event, as a fan, dress however you want. Dress in this IP that we all love, go for it. The line they're drawing, which is very fair, is: Don't dress for it and get paid. If you're doing promotion for a company dressed as a character that is currently struck, that's scabbing. But attending a show as a fan and coming to our cosplay competition — you should 100 percent continue pursuing your passion," Rogers shared as a point of clarification when it comes to how cosplayers should approach cosplaying during NYCC. "We've had some of our usual suspect cosplayers reach out to confirm with us, asking, "Hey, have you heard from SAG?" and so we've done a little bit of communication back and forth. We decided not to release a general statement as the confusion died down. But, our cosplay gets to proceed as normal."

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