BONUS: What’s at Stake in the WGA Writers’ Strike
Blake Masters (NOT THAT ONE, Blake is the creator of Showtime’s Brotherhood, and writer for Rubicon, Law & Order: LA, and Falling Water among many other shows) joins us to discuss the ongoing WGA writers’ strike. Will and Blake touch on the transforming landscape of Television, fair compensation in the age of streaming, standing creative professionals’ ground against AI, and how entertainment unions fit into the larger world of American organized labor. And also, how all TV writing eventually leads back to Columbo.
Comments (28)
The Silo
I feel like the issue isn’t really like , what’s the purpose of what is coming into our homes, is it art etc…it’s more like, this AI shit is from hell please don’t consume it 😅
For the record i fkn love cheerios❤️🫥
QQ for the group who wrote the shows that people internalized and turned into toxic shit in our culture... I weep...
I'll look into it but it sounds icky
Very pleasing to think of every tv writer in a web of master crafts/apprentices with its' center emanating from Columbo
Good stuff
LA based vis dev in animation here, we love the WGA! make the studios tap the mat or choke 'em out! <3
First the AI came for the writers and I did not speak out…
So glad you guys continue to do these, solidarity forever
Good episode. I thought the guest was introduced as Blake Edwards. That made the episode very intriguing for the first 10 minutes or so. 👍
This is news I can use. Love the laser focus, thanks for this episode! The outro music brings me right back!
Love the episodes that interview rank and filers about their workplace issues and why/how they are engaged in struggle ☝️☝️☝️
Fascinating details about the changes to the creative process. Reminds me of that narrative I've heard about how we fucked ourselves out of the auto business by arranging the supply chain so it couldn't unionize but also couldn't innovate processes effectively
Man, I loved Rubicon. I still remember the scene where one of the main shady dudes is in his home office, clutching a newspaper with a trembling grip as he discovers a clover pressed into its fold. The camera cuts to outside the house and after a beat you hear a single muffled gunshot. I hated that it was cancelled, but my very uninformed guess is that A&E put their money on another little show at the time, The Walking Dead. Personally I prefer supranational conspiracy to zombies, in a lot of ways the former is far more terrifying. I wish the show could be revived. In some ways it even more relevant than before. Perhaps too on the nose, lol.
Loved “Brotherhood.”
very accurate description of ai!
Two things. One, maybe the studios look at the numbers and see that future audiences just aren’t watching tv or movies; it’s over, might as well make senseless content … Two, the content that does make money may not need an actual writer, or at least a writer in the WGA.
These are actually decent points, I would be curious to see what the Will, Felix and Matt would have to say.
Next in this series: Minnesota Nurses Association members interview about the Mayo Clinic blackmail antics !
Sorry to Chris for even suggesting this, but I think it would be great if Will could do a bonus interview with a WGA member every week as long as the strike lasts. The stars are aligning for the ultimate bonus interview episodes.
Whether it’s the same Blake masters or not, they ROASTED THE NAME ITSELF when dude was running for office😂😂
Pay actors less, pay writers nothing
From what I remember, Rubicon was pretty great show. It's too bad it never got a second season. All about a false flag attack plot orchestrated by the deep state that a low-level, nerdy intelligence agent stumbles across. Definitely would not be made today.
No they could. Just they have to have a twist where it turns out the false flag is good because it lets them do a woke invasion against Iran or something
Nice interview. Solidarity to the writers! The film industry can be pretty rough on people so I hope they can win.
I was going to say that all of his credits sound like fake shows Felix came up with, but as Good Doctor discourse has shown us we terminally online posters lack basic awareness of actual television.
Richard nixon, surprisingly, had a lot of problems