I didn’t really understand the screenwriters’ strike in the US because, to be honest, I don’t really understand the industry. But George RR Martin has this great explainer on his blog, which starts with his intro to screenworld, on the reboot of the Twilight Zone.
What I knew about television production when I got off that plane at Burbank was… well, so minimal I can’t think of a pithy analogy. But I learned. I learned in the writers’ room from Phil himself and the amazing staff he had assembled for TZ: Jim Crocker, Rockne S. O’Bannon, the incredible Alan Brennert, Michael Cassutt, and a bevy of fantastic freelancers. And not just about dialogue and structure and the language of scriptwriting. I learned about production as well. The moment I arrived, Phil threw me into the deep end. I wrote five scripts during my season and a half on TZ, and I was deeply involved in every aspect of every one of them. I did not just write my script, turn it in, and go away. I sat in on the casting sessions. I worked with the directors. I was present at the table reads. “The Last Defender of Camelot” was the first of my scripts to go into production, and I was on set every day. I watched the stuntmen rehearse the climactic sword fight (in the lobby of the ST ELSEWHERE set, as it turned out), and I was present when they shot that scene and someone zigged when he should have zagged and a stuntman’s nose was cut off… a visceral lesson as to the kind of thing that can go wrong.
Whoa! Buried the lede there George! They cut the dude’s nose off?!?
Anyway, it goes on to explain the industry and the strike in solid detail, including the loss of the pathway from baby writer to executive producer that he was able to follow.
geez. Talk about an occupational hazard. That SS/John Wick post was interesting to see how they talked about SS and how he isnt very liked by anyone - i went down a bit of a rabbit hole and it seems that a lot of stunt people hated working with him. He would just beat people up.
And of course screenwriters are going to have the wittiest protest signs.
geez. Talk about an occupational hazard. That SS/John Wick post was interesting to see how they talked about SS and how he isnt very liked by anyone - i went down a bit of a rabbit hole and it seems that a lot of stunt people hated working with him. He would just beat people up.