S6 Ep. 33: The Stakes of the Writers’ Strike: Benjamin Percy on the WGA Walkout, Streaming, and the Survival of Screenwriting

Novelist, screenwriter, and Writers Guild of America member Benjamin Percy joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the Hollywood writers’ strike, which began May 2. Percy talks about several WGA contract proposals tied to streaming services’ rise in popularity, and reflects on how streaming has upended the traditional 22-episode television season, causing writers to scramble for work every 10 weeks. He explains how writers end up doing unpaid labor before shows are greenlit and highlights how a lack of transparency regarding streaming viewership numbers leads to writers being underpaid. He also analyzes why the WGA wants to limit the use of artificial intelligence on its projects. Finally, he talks about his own experiences writing screenplays, including his recent movie Summering. The group listens to the trailer and Percy recalls the genesis of the film, as well as how being on a set changed his understanding of the economics of movies.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Benjamin Percy

Summering Trailer #1 (2022) | Movieclips Trailers

The Sky Vault

Red Moon 

The Wilding 

The Ninth Metal

The Unfamiliar Garden

Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction

Others:

WGA proposal

"You're Not Making Jet Engines, You're Making Art" | The Distraction: A Defector Podcast

"2023 Writers Guild of America Strike: What You Need to Know" - The New York Times

Writers Guild of America West: Mini-Rooms Are Writers’ Rooms. Period.

“These are the TV shows and films affected by the Hollywood writers' strike so far,” by Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz

"Writers strike: What TV shows are being affected" by Brahmjot Kaur, NBC

"WGA strike 2023: Hollywood’s writers walked off the job. What happens now?" - Vox

"Conan lauded for his support of writers in old video amid new writers strike: 'Man is a legend,'" by Aditi Bora

"The last writers’ strike, when streaming was new and Conan grew a beard" - By Sonia Rao and Michael Cavna, The Washington Post

Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU | The American Reader by Carmen Maria Machado

Story by Robert McKee

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

Screenplay by Syd Field

Near Dark, directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Chinatown

William Goldman

The Princess Bride

All the President’s Men

Quentin Tarantino

Drew’s Script-O-Rama

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 17: Chatbot vs. Writer: Vauhini Vara on the Perils and Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 2 Episode 11: Brit Bennett and Emily Halpern on Screenwriting’s Tips for Fiction

 Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1 Episode 11: What’s It Really Like to Have Your Book Made Into a Movie?

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