#making a living

[simplecountryboy]

https://linktr.ee/Barbieporter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=a633975b-4a39-44e9-8c7a-f2c0811df4b6

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The following was written by an Emmy-winning Showrunner with long experience in Hollywood, and published anonymously in The Ankler today. I’m publishing it here because I’m a big believer in not reinventing the wheel. This really sets out what is wrong now with Hollywood, and what’s really at stake.

TC

HOW TRUST DIED IN HOLLYWOOD

“There’s always been a struggle between art and commerce, but now I’m telling you art is getting its ass kicked, and it’s making us mean, and it’s making us bitchy, and it’s making us cheap punks and that’s not who we are.”

Aaron Sorkin wrote those words for the pilot of Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, which premiered back in the comparatively halcyon days of 2006. Mr. Sorkin wasn’t prescient so much as he vastly underestimated commerce’s complete and utter victory over art and the white-hot rage that would engender in the artists.

Consider this: In just the past four years, the writers of television, film, and comedy/variety shows have fired their own agents — going so far as to sue them in federal court and accuse them of being “mobsters” — and gone out on strike for the first time in 15 years. Some may say — and have said — that this is because writers are “crazy” or “spiteful” or that their leadership is “militant.” And all of that may even be true, but such characterizations elide the simpler, far more accurate explanation: Writers are angry AF.

And, unfortunately, even if the WGA strike were to end tomorrow (please, God, let it end tomorrow) with the writers getting absolutely everything they’re asking for (and, God, that wouldn’t be so terrible either), we — the collective “we” of Hollywood — would still be left to contend with that rage because it won’t go away and it won’t go away because the system that engendered it is broken.

Let me let you in on something that the WGA Negotiating Committee prefers you not know: Writers don’t really care about money. I mean, we like money — don’t get me wrong — but we practice our craft for its own sake. And the way you can tell is that, right now, half of television writers are working at guild minimum. We let that happen. Does that sound to you like people who are in it for the money? No, it doesn’t. We’re in it for the love of the game. The problem is... the game is no longer lovable.

Here are just a couple of examples: Screenwriters have watched opportunities dry up as studios eschew mid-budget movies that used to be the lifeblood of the feature side of the industry in favor of “blockbusters” (some ultimately more so than others). And those screenwriters lucky enough to get a gig are constrained by single-step deals which result in their payments being held hostage to free work. Even more soul-crushing, their hope of writing something original is a pipe dream in a land where studios worship at the altars of “intellectual property” and “pre-awareness.”

Things are arguably even worse on the television side. Writers for streaming shows are used to “development” that goes on for years and years. In broadcast (remember that?), the deadline of May upfronts kept everyone honest, but the recent move to “year-round development” now just means that development is a never-ending process. It used to be that the price of admission was a pilot pitch; now it’s a “pitch” for multiple seasons combined with a visual deck (if not a full-on sizzle reel) and, hey, an actor attachment and a filmmaker wouldn’t hurt either. And showrunners? They’re as interchangeable and disposable as feature writers have always been. (The biggest unsung offender on this front is easily Amazon. Here’s a partial list of all the shows where they’ve fired and replaced the showrunner: Carnival Row, Citadel, Gen V, Goliath, Jack Ryan, Paper Girls, The Summer I Turned Pretty.)

[MORE]

[ferdifz]

Does any working musician anywhere in the world make their main living or derive their main income solely from Spotify royalties?

Not one musician I'd bet.

...But I'd love to be proven wrong though.

[codecicle]

Guys I'm so glad everyone loves hit JRWI campaign: The Suckening so much. 12 thousand notes on just a thumbnail that's so cool. Anyone think about emizel pussy-out post revival

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[candycatfalls]

the book of bill is great

[mysterycitrus]

lbr he doesnt stand a chance against a real clownoisseur

[mythtakens]

“these characters should be mentally healthy before they get together 😌” ummm no I actually think we should smash their mental illnesses together like clumps of play-doh and see what colors it makes

[beebfreeb]

[kosmogrl]

[froody]

every prehistoric human reconstruction has me thinking “I want to smoke weed with this bitch”

she looks like she would have been an awesome neighbor, like she would have loved menthols and called me baby

[bereft-of-frogs]

There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

[delulugirlys-fairytale]

[scramratz]

My hottest take (and I genuinely do believe this) is that most trans women pass perfectly well. They just don't pass as supermodels. Every "nonpassing" trans woman I've ever met looks like your average midwestern cis woman.

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price at the opening of The Tingler (1959)

[dolybun]

this is so true