PSYCH Vet Kirsten Nelson on ‘Offering Joy’ As a SAG-AFTRA Strike Captain

For the past few months—since SAG-AFTRA went on strike—PSYCH vet Kirsten Nelson has spent her days in Burbank, volunteering as a strike captain at the Disney lot. 

“When we started getting an inkling that SAG was probably going to go on strike, as well, to join the writers, they put out a Google spreadsheet for interest,” Nelson recalls to Give Me My Remote. “Who is willing to take on this responsibility? And I know where my strengths lie—I am passionate about volunteering and volunteering with causes that I’m passionate about. Wanting to make sure that I made myself available was important to me, to go wherever they needed me. And once they got the eight lots in Los Angeles set up…I just joined them shortly thereafter.”

The strike captains arrive by 7:30 or 8 AM and leave by 12:30 PM. “Coming here is not hard; it’s early, but it’s not hard because [of] who I’m going to see,” she says. 

As if on cue, one of their regular drive-by supporters rides by, blaring his motorcycle horn to show his solidarity. (Most days, Nelson shares, he drives by with his dog strapped to his chest.) Nelson also points out a bicyclist the picketers see every day, too. 

“It’s not hard to come out here, because the alternative for a lot of people is to stay home and to think a lot about what they’re not doing and what they can’t do because of the strike action,” Nelson says. “And when [people] come to the strike line, what we try to do as captains is to make them feel very welcome…what we do there is that we make this a welcoming place full of camaraderie, and almost stewardship of people that are like-minded and you can find comfort in.”

“Sometimes there’s food, there’s always drinks; there’s always smiles,” she continues. “And for me, volunteering as a strike captain, I wanted to make sure that I had that gift to give to other people, as well. I like interacting with our membership. I like seeing people who come out sometimes once a week or who have never been here before…they get that excitement of seeing relief and smiles and happiness, because joy is a form of resistance, as well. And offering joy, even if it’s three hours in the morning, that makes me go home feeling happy.”

The SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee is currently negotiating with the studios, and Nelson acknowledges there’s a lot at stake.

“AI and the use of artificial intelligence, with capturing our images and our voices—I think it’s going to be such a danger in this evolving industry,” she says. “When it happens—not if, when it happens—there [needs to be] plans and policies in place to protect real live humans. I think we need to harness it, not form a committee to figure out what’s going to happen.” 

“But a lot of what we’re doing with this new contract is tearing up the foundation of a rapidly changing world and laying a new one,” she continues. “The studios adjusted to a new business model; they bought into the streaming service, the tech model, for their own industry. And I think that the actors should have the right to then adjust to that new business model. You should not be asked to do the same contract if they’re taking on a new form. So AI is very important to me.”

Also important is the much-discussed healthcare stat: According to the guild, only 14% of the members make the required $26,470 minimum to qualify for healthcare. “How our residuals and sessions are tracked for healthcare is also very important to me,” Nelson says. “A lot of people don’t know that our healthcare is based on earnings—[but] not all earnings are the same. There are session fees that count 100 percent towards achieving healthcare; your residuals, about half of those are counted…Sometimes you have to make double that; you’re doing very well, but all the money that you make is not counted. And I don’t think a lot of people understand that. So I am always gonna say paycheck [increase is important], but AI and healthcare [too] as we’re getting paid.”

Nelson is hopeful however that her time on the picket lines may be coming to an end soon.

“I think my purpose [as a strike captain] is to become obsolete—I am very excited to become obsolete,” she says. “I love this and I have made wonderful, wonderful friends—I’ve made lifelong friends. I’ve probably discovered more people in my union and had face-to-face contact than I ever would have had working on a show, a commercial, or a movie. The people that we see—new faces, old faces, people you haven’t seen in decades coming here, I am amazingly grateful for. But I don’t want to be here and I want this size 3XL dayglo orange hi-vis vest to become obsolete, because that means that we have a fair deal.”

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