Studios are cutting writing budgets to the bone by hiring fewer people for shorter time periods, often without paying for lower-level writers to be on set during production, which makes it all but impossible to learn the skills necessary to run a show. - The New Yorker
Contracts generally prevent unions themselves from joining in, but individual members may choose to honor the picket line — though not necessarily without consequences. Here's what various unions are advising members to do. - The Hollywood Reporter
The work stoppage by the Writers Guild of America has led to the temporary closure of the weekday late-night shows on NBC, ABC, CBS, HOB (Bill Maher) and Comedy Central. Saturday Night Live and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver have also halted production. - The Hollywood Reporter
"Vice, the brash digital-media disrupter that charmed giants like Disney and Fox into investing before a stunning crash-landing, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to two people with knowledge of its operations." - The New York Times
"The Guild (wants) a TV staffing minimum, which would range from six to 12 writers per show, based on the number of episodes, ... (and) a guaranteed minimum number of weeks of employment per season, ranging from 10 weeks to 52 weeks." The studios flatly reject both demands. - Variety
"Television and movie writers declared late Monday that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications. ... The Writers Guild of America said that its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday." - AP
Most people who write for the internet have had the experience of publishing something that escapes the bounds of one’s usual audience and goes viral. The experience can be mesmerizing. - Slate
“We have a bunch of A.I.s that are creating a bunch of entertainment that people are kind of OK with.” In their attempts to push back, the writers have what a lot of other white-collar workers don’t: a labor union. - The New York Times
But you probably will. "Contentious labor talks in Hollywood are rarely settled without the pressure of a contract expiration deadline bearing down. The stakes and the tension feel especially heightened this time around." - Variety
"It’s the first topic that comes up in every meeting, every phone call, and everyone claims to have their own inside source about how long a strike will go on and whether the directors and actors will also go out, which would truly be a disaster." - The New York Times
"Investors are no longer sure streaming is a great business; the streamers are searching desperately for new ways to make money. The golden age of high-flying, big-spending streaming seems to be over." - The Verge
Bel Powley, who's playing Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank's family: "I’d shied away from second world war stories – because it’s always all about men. ... So another thing that excited me about A Small Light was it’s completely told from a woman’s perspective." - The Observer (UK)
"Potential financiers would ask if she could make the central family a white one. Others would have preferred something a little bit less action and more art house. Later, the emphasis on comedy became a problem." - The New York Times
It's also about artificial intelligence in the writers' room, and whether writers will be replaced by programs - the so-called Nora Ephron problem: "Hollywood writers have grown increasingly anxious as ChatGPT has become adept at mimicking the style of prolific authors." - The New York Times
