WGA East Prez Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
@LisaCullen
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I am honored and humbled to serve as the next President of
@WGAEast
.
Even when we negotiate a fair deal with the Hollywood studios — and it is a when, not an if — I know the fight is not over.
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Seth Meyers out here supporting the
#WritersGuildStrike
picketing in Queens NY! ✊
@WGAEast
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A producer told me he heard that all the yacht rentals were booked for the month of June by studio execs who'd long expected a
#writersstrike
and it would be haha funny if a resourceful reporter hunted this lead down 😀
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"Last month, 'The Bear' won the W.G.A. Award for Comedy Series. O’Keefe went to the ceremony with a negative bank account and a bow tie that he’d bought on credit. He’s now applying for jobs at movie theatres to prepare for the potential strike."
On the cusp of a potential strike, an investigation: Why are TV writers so miserable?
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I was in the room and can tell you unequivocally:
The AMPTP does not "believe" it's our turn to make a counter.
They KNOW it's their turn, not ours. They KNOW. They're not even a LITTLE BIT confused.
I just want people to be clear on that.
Negotiations have been at a standstill as both the WGA and AMPTP believe it’s the other’s turn to make a counteroffer
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In
@sagaftra
, the minimum you have to earn to qualify for health insurance is $26,000. And only 13% of members qualify.
When 87% of your workforce can't meet a $26,000 threshold for health insurance, then that means your minimum pay rate is too low.
#PayYourActors
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Alex told me THE BEAR barely left the restaurant in S1 bc they lacked the budget.
Cool. Great show made for no $.
But when it became a monster hit for FX, that success should've translated into paychecks for writers and actors. Instead, they're going broke.
WE
NEED
TO
FIX
THIS
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HOLD UP.
Studios were making actors travel far away to shoot their TV shows and then...refusing to pay for housing and other travel costs because now they were "residents"???
#SAGAFTRAstrike
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Writer friends — I want to say 3 things before I pass out.
1. We WANTED a deal and we fought till the bitter end for it.
2. It wasn’t enough. Now we have to exercise our power to get it.
3. We cleaned out the AMPTP’s candy cabinet, so there.
Onward, together ✊
#WGAStrong
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So Bob Iger has a success metric built into his contract. Meaning he gets paid more when business goes well.
But when the writers and actors brought up a success metric for OUR work, the studios laughed us out of the room.
This is what hypocrisy looks like.
#Solidarity
#1u
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"We ARE the content. It is OUR ideas that fill the theme parks and the toy stores, our characters on the lunchboxes and the Halloween costumes. We are the national resource from which the product is made, and we are tired of being stripmined." ~ Tony Gilroy
@WGAEast
(WATCH) Tony Gilroy speaks to demonstrators today at the NYC screenwriters picket
#WritersStrike
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"Sorry, we can't find a Latino writer/actor/crew member to hire...there just aren't any."
#LatinoHollywood
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It's been
4 years since I started developing this show at
2 networks with
countless drafts and
innumerable rounds of notes and
many many near-deaths and actual deaths.
This week, I got to hire writers.
Next week, I get to open my first writers' room.
Never give up.
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“I love what I do…but it is dangerous to say you love what you do, because people think that means they can pay you less. OUR WORK HAS VALUE.” ~ children’s TV writer Stephanie D’Abruzzo
(WATCH) Stephanie D’Abruzzo, children’s TV actor/puppeteer/writer, speaks to the crowd at the family/kids programming writer picket in NYC today
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Good news: I am pitching a show with my assistant! It's based on her idea, she's AAPI too and every single actor in the pitch deck is BIPOC! 😃
Bad news: I am going to need a new assistant soon 😭
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Busy Phillips: “How many of you own a boat? How about a space ship? Is a laptop the most expensive thing you own? Pay your writers!”
@sagaftra
@WGAEast
#wgastrike
#rallyattherock
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This headline gets an F.
The
#WGAStrike
is FOR Hollywood’s next generation. Without fair pay, without a career path, without actual jobs — there won’t BE a next generation…and everyone knows it.
Congrats
@BusinessInsider
on your grab for subscriptions from studio execs
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Deadline comments are a wild and woolly space that sometimes yields deliciousness
#WGAStrong
#BU
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Mikey Day: “What’s the cost of Jeff Bezos’s yacht?”
CORRECT ANSWER: $500 million
“What is the cost for the AMPTP to meet all the WGA’s demands?”
CORRECT ANSWER: $429 million
#WGAStrike
@WGAEast
Game Show Day
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A reporter asked me what I thought the turning point was in
#WGAStrike
. Was it the meeting with the CEOs in August? Or when we returned to the table after Labor Day?
I said no: it was when
@sagaftra
joined us on the picket line.
You stood for us. Now we stand for you.
#1u
✊💕
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The amazing
@Lin_Manuel
giving out donuts on the picket line of the
@WGAEast
#WritersGuildStrike
!! 😍 Photo by captain
@BonnieDatt
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Let's take a moment to thank
#WGA
members like Jenny Han who skip their own premieres bc of the
#WGAStrike
. To miss their own red carpet is a gut punch they're taking on our behalf. We honor your sacrifice AND your work 🙏❤️
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Let's talk about writers and AI, including the studios' response to our proposal.
Writers are well aware AI will play a role in filmmaking. We're hearing that producers are already asking writers to rewrite AI-sourced scripts and using AI to read scripts and generate notes (!).
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Yesterday we shot an action scene with all fake guns. Crew clacked wooden blocks so actors could react to “gunshots.” Squibs exploded glassware. When it was over, the whole company applauded. On the slates, these words: “Safety first. Remember Halyna Hutchins” 🙏
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“Everything important the WGA is asking for is for young and mid career writers…. This negotiation is about opening opportunities for younger and more vulnerable writers.”
Author and showrunner Neil Gaiman
@neilhimself
#WGAStrike
@wgaeast
#rallyattherock
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Carisi: Are you okay?
Rollins: Yeah. No...no.
Carisi: Come here. I got you. I got you.
😭😭😭
#MustBeHeldAccountable
#SVU
@nbcsvu
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Today I sold a network TV drama set in Hawai'i whose LEAD (not supporting) characters are ALL Asian/Pacific Islander/hapa. Thank you,
#CrazyRichAsians
, for opening today on the big screens. We're coming for your small screens too. This is just the beginning.
#AsianAugust
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A year ago I hired my assistant off a sample I thought had the makings of a TV show. The project’s been on a journey since then, but today we pitched it to our producers and they LOVED it. My asst hit it out the park, all calm like she’s an old hand. Baby bird is ready to fly 🥲
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We’ll we didn’t get Imagine Dragons on the picket line like they did in LA but we did get the musicians from
@nbcsnl
and
@colbertlateshow
here in NYC and listen that’s more our vibe anyway 💕
@WGAEast
#WritersStrike
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Today is Norman Lear’s 101st birthday and hundreds of comedy writers picketing at 30 Rock just sang happy birthday 😭
@WGAEast
Comedy Writers picket
#WGAStrike
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Look who dropped in on
@SVUWritersRoom
!
@PeterScanavino
, hounding us for scripts. We’re working on it,
#Carisi
...yeesh
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I didn't write my first script till I was almost 40.
Writing is hard at any age. You do you. ❤️
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Screenwriters are typically paid half their fee upon hire, then the other half upon delivery of script. The problem: employers hold out on that second payment while demanding rewrite after rewrite.
Weekly payment of that second fee will cut down on free work. Studio response:
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Steve Earle playing the theme song to
#TheWire
and dedicated his performance to
@WGAEast
Negotiating Committee member David Simon
@AoDespair
@WGAEast
#wgastrike
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Not me calling out CNN's CEO for saying the
#WritersStrike2023
would end because of writers' "love for working"
...on CNN 😬
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David Zaslav told CNBC he believed the
#WGAStrike
would ultimately end because of “a love for the business and a love for working.”
As the sixth week of the strike begins, the writers’ persistence reveals a sharper truth: Love doesn’t pay the bills.
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Two points of clarification, your honor:
1.
@PatinkinMandy
actually said "Without writers we ARE nothing!"
2. His sign says "You killed residuals. Prepare to pay" and the other side says "I didn't even write this sign" 🤣
Love our
@sagaftra
comrades!!
@WGAEast
#WritersStrike
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The year
#CrazyRichAsians
came out, at least 5 Asian creators including me sold Asian-led shows to networks.
Not one made it to air. But at least 5 Asian-led shows by white creators have.
CRA and
#EEAAO
matter bc they're stories about us, told by us. Here's to many more 🙏
I remember when I had to Photoshop hit movie posters with an Asian face so they would know what it means to feel seen.
#StarringJohnCho
was a prototype. The seven years since have been remarkable. So many more stories to tell. This is just the beginning 🫶🏼✨
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My name is Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, and I am running uncontested for President of
@WGAEast
.
I will be the first person of color and the third woman to lead our 72-year-old union.
I am a TV writer, author and former journalist.
Here is why I would like your vote.
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My pardner
@kat_dobie
and I were taking a pic to commemorate our first day of shooting Ep. 7 and look who photo-bombed 😍
#bosslady
@Mariska
#SVU21
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When I found out I got into the 2020 WGA Showrunner Training Program, someone told me I'd probably be the only Asian. Guess how many of us there are? Six. SIX. I'm not even the only Japanese.
Get ready to work, AsAm actors. We're coming for you.
#RepresentationMatters
✊
I'm showrunning on a new TV show with an Asian cast. Who are some up-and-coming Asian actors and actresses I should know about?
Please RT and feel free to tag yourself! ❤️
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Eight years ago today, I was shooting my first pilot. Nine pilot sales in, I am finally one step closer — in a writers' room.
TV development is crazy fun, crazy hard, frustrating, heartbreaking, excruciating and achingly slow. Good luck to all of us out here still trying ❤️🙏🤞
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Good morning WGA writers.
Welcome to your first day back at work 💕
As you fire up your laptops, you do so with more job protections, financial payouts, advancement opportunities and AI guardrails than you've ever had before.
YOU got us this. Now go write something amazing 🙏
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I am interviewing for an assistant and when I ask about their goals the young women of color invariably declare "I want to be a showrunner" and the gall and the nerve of them to say out loud the thing I never could until very very recently: I LOVE IT. GO RUN THE WORLD.
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I got to hire my first assistant this year.
I asked friends what constitutes a fair wage, and
@LizAlps
et al told me $25/hr. My studio pays $20, "non-negotiable."
So I pay the balance.
But I shouldn't have to.
Normalize a living wage for TV assistants.
#IALivingWage
#IASolidarity
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As vp of a whole entire guild of TV/screenwriters east of the Mississippi, I can tell you: yes. Yes, you can find success in this biz without moving to LA.
You ask: how? HOW do I make it as a Hollywood writer if I'M NOT IN HOLLYWOOD?
Some thoughts: 1/
Thinking out loud: is it possible to be successful in screenwriting and be bicoastal? Or is LA it?
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When your WGA captain is Captain Benson of
#SVU
🥰
Thank you Mariska Hargitay and
@SenGillibrand
for supporting
#WGAStrike
at Times Square today! 🙏❤️
@WGAEast
#UnionStrong
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Oh,
@Variety
. You know very well — as does
@DrewBarrymoreTV
— that she's violating WGA rules, not SAG-AFTRA's.
Drew's show is written by WGA writers.
So who's doing the writing if the writers are on strike?
Exactly.
#DrewTheRightThing
According to a statement from SAG-AFTRA, Drew Barrymore is not violating SAG-AFTRA rules as the host of the show: "'The Drew Barrymore Show' is produced under the Network Television Code which is a separate contract and is not struck. It is permissible work and Drew’s role as…
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I'm so sad to report that 'OHANA wasn't picked up by ABC. I mourn all my killed pilots, but this one felt bigger than me—finally, a network drama w Asian/Pacific Islander leads! I'm sorry, friends...I failed you this time but I won't quit. More projects TBA. Onward ❤️✊
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The
@Teamsters
were by our side since Day 1.
During negotiations,
@LindsayD399
showed up IN PERSON to show support.
And Teamsters refusing to cross our picket lines was an absolute game-changer.
THANK YOU to our Teamster friends for your support. We return it. We are
#1u
Proud of the Writers Guild of America West and East on their fight, tenacity and resolve to achieve a tentative agreement.
As for the
#AMPTP
, get your asses back to the table.
#WGAstrong
#SAGAFTRAstrong
#HollywoodLaborUnited
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Piling on the
@KelliGiddish
love: here she is rejuvenating a room full of tired background actors at the end of a long shoot day by leading them in a goofy song she learned from her kid. But she forgot to press record! Luckily I got the vid✌️
#SVU
@nbclawandorder
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Act 1: AMPTP hires PR whiz
@mollylevinson
to boost their beat-up image
Act 2: Molly Levinson boasts she also reps the US Women’s soccer team
@USWNT
Act 3:
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Incorrect. Not a single one of the over 9,000
@WGAEast
@WGAWest
members who voted yes WANT to strike.
We WANT to be paid fairly for our work.
And, if the studios don't agree, we will HAVE to strike for it.
Big difference.
#WGAStrong
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Exhausted but jubilant members of
@WGAEast
gathered last night at the Manhattan Center to celebrate our return to work and talk about our new contract. (Here's the standing O for our superstar Captains 🥲❤️)
Some important takeaways:
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I am in an almost all-female writers' room for an action thriller and when I tell you these women are fierce, just know that if and when I need to do a murder and hide the body I now have a team to call
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Apparently today it's
@BrookeShields
and
@Oprah
.
So disappointing.
#DrewTheRightThing
@DrewBarrymoreTV
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John Leguizamo: “As a proud longtime member of the
@WGAEast
, I know writers aren’t getting paid what they deserve!”
#WGAStrike
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I know this scene and it’s so good it will blow your MIND
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TV dramas that debuted in 1999:
Angel (1999-2004)
Farscape (1999-2003)
Freaks & Geeks (1999-2000)
Judging Amy (1999-2005)
Relic Hunger (1999-2002)
Roswell (1999-2002)
Sopranos (1999-2007)
The West Wing (1999-2006)
Third Watch (1999-2005)
Law & Order:
#SVU
(1999-STILL GOING)✌️☝️
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Writers are not Luddites. We are not trying to turn back time or turn our backs on technology.
We do however believe machines and the corporations that use them should not be able to capitalize on our work without checks and balances.
#WGAStrong
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Introducing 'OHANA! 🌺
The road from here to air is really freaking hard. I would love your company and support. If you'd like to come along, I'll post here about the highs and lows of developing a network pilot.
Mahalo. Arigato. LET'S GO.
#AsianAugust
#AsAmCreatorRollcall
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Why such a fuss over
@DrewBarrymoreTV
when
@TheView
has continued to film?
The View is a struck show employing WGA writers who are on strike.
@WGAEast
has been picketing The View all summer.
Whoopi, you're wrong for this.
Join us TODAY at Columbus/66th St till 11am to picket.
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Here's what we proposed to the studios:
• AI can't write or rewrite literary material (like scripts);
• AI can't be used as source material (like IP);
• MBA-covered material can't be used to train AI (in other words, AI can't plagiarize our work).
Their response:
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A reminder that earlier in the negotiations the AMPTP actually proposed this.
Sending writers to set could be part of an internship or training program, they said.
An UNPAID training program.
A reminder that sending writers to set isn't an internship or a training program
You're doing an actual job. When we talk about how going on set is "learning how to be a showrunner," it's a side effect of being on the ground and doing your job.
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Methinks perhaps we have a new picket location in Boston
@WGAEast
#WritersStrike2023
David Zaslav (
@BU_LAW
’85) — Commencement Speaker
@DavidZaslav
is the president and chief executive officer of
@warnerbros
. He oversaw the launch of some of the fastest-growing networks in the US and the rise of popular channels, such as Animal Planet, HGTV, Food Network, & TLC.
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No, you're not scabbing if you appear as a guest on
@DrewBarrymoreTV
.
Yes, you'd be crossing a
#WGA
picket line to do so.
Yes,
@BrookeShields
and
@Oprah
apparently did so today.
Yes, other celebs cancelled their appearance in solidarity w the writers including this guy👇
@LisaCullen
@stevemoth
@BrookeShields
@Oprah
@DrewBarrymoreTV
Are the guests technically scabbing too? Shields is supposedly there to promote a movie, so I can’t imagine how that’s kosher unless she changes her mind and talks only about other stuff. Or is just appearing enough?
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I told
@nytimes
"We’re looking at a future where writers could be hired per day."
It's not hyperbole. In our negotiations, the studios proposed a daily rate for comedy/variety writers.
A. Daily. Rate.
Stay angry. Stay
#WGAStrong
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This fight looked different last week. We felt righteous but alone. Determined but exhausted.
Then...160,000 reinforcements turned up.
Week 12 of
#WGAStrike
is Week 1 of
#SAGAFTRAstrike
.
Together we stand. Together we'll win. We can do this.
@WGAEast
@WGAWest
@sagaftra
#1u
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As we end Week 6 of
#WGAStrike
, a shout-out to all the WGA Captains out there.
Nothing can stop you.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night.
Neither apocalyptic fire smog from Canada nor the actual apocalypse probably.
Take a bow, superstars.
@WGAEast
@WGAWest
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Calling my beloved
@WGAEast
. This is my first ask of you as your new President.
Head out to the picket line today. I mean fucking FLOOD that line. Make noise. Let these Hollywood CEOs hear your voices.
One day longer. One day stronger. Show them we remain
#WGAStrong
✊
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Love this shot of our Number One on a live set. Hair and makeup buzzing around for "last looks"; lights adjusting; director and DP conferring; first AD hollering to keep it down—and
@Mariska
, the calm eye of our
#SVU
storm ❤️
WATCH TONIGHT AT 10
#CantBeHeldAccountable
@nbcsvu
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SHE IS.
#SVU21
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YOU GUYS...I am very very very excited about this week's episode of
#SVU
! Come hang with me here this week as I post BTS bits from the shoot, and please make a date to watch
@nbcsvu
this Thursday at 10! 💕
#SwimmingWithTheSharks
(Also omg this
@Mariska
photo can I die now 🥰)
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The WGA's fight on AI is existential, not just for writers but for the whole entertainment community.
AI can already do some of the work of directors, producers, SFX, editors. AI is already replacing voice actors, gutting livelihoods.
.
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If you need another reason to swoon over Pete Davidson…even though the
#WritersGuildStrike
cancelled his SNL hosting ep, he still sent a ton of pizza to the
@WGAEast
picket line in Greepoint Brooklyn today 😍
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Thank you
@Teamsters
!! This awesome Teamster is circling Rock Center to honk his ass off!!
@WGAEast
rally at 30 Rock
#WGAStrike
#UnionSolidarity
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"We don’t want to preempt technology that we might be able to take advantage of."
This is the exact quote from studios in response to the WGA's proposals to regulate the use of AI.
Then they offered "annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology."
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Her work fam and her fam fam showed up on set to celebrate our lady’s birthday (check out her room jam-packed with balloons). Happy happy,
@Mariska
. Now everybody TUNE IN TO
@nbcsvu
!!!
#SVU
#SVU21
@RyanBuggle
@SVUWritersRoom
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During the negotiations, the studios wouldn't even engage with us about AI. Now they're finally admitting "in private conversations that they had made a mistake by largely ignoring the writers’ demands for guardrails around artificial intelligence."
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Here's the promised advice for
#PreWGA
about TV/film
#fellowships
in the event of a WGA strike, vetted by WGA lawyers:
1. There's no strike yet, so go ahead and apply.
2. IF we strike, AND you get in, AND the fellowship begins while we are on strike,
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It's raining in New York, but our hearts are warm in
@SVUWritersRoom
. That's because we get to write for this lady—and this week, the world will get to watch an episode she DIRECTED.
TUNE IN THURSDAY FOR
@nbcsvu
#SVU
#ShePaintsWithVengeance
#CecilBHargitay
@mariska
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Here's a note a friend of mine got on their Asian-centered development from their studio exec: "Why is the character Asian if they're not doing Asian things?" (Oh and that's just one of SO many.)
Hollywood 👏 needs 👏 diverse 👏 execs 👏
#RepresentationMatters
I hear a lot of conversations about diversity behind the camera and in writer’s rooms, which- YES. We also need to see inclusivity & thoughtfulness from the people giving notes. Notes can entirely change the trajectory of a story. And thoughtfulness in those notes matters- a lot.
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Don’t let this sweet smile fool you. On this week’s
#SVU
, this ace detective flexes her brain and takes no guff. She‘s got no time for your BS, understand??
WATCH THIS THURSDAY AT 10
#SwimmingWithTheSharks
#SVU
@nbcsvu
#Rollins
@KelliGiddish
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Last week on the shoot, I showed
@Mariska
a photo of my little one's skin rash and she diagnosed it and from now on she is Dr. Hargitay 😳
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I wrote the outline for my network pilot in the 48 hours that also included oral surgery and nobody in my family was even remotely impressed so is it gauche to ask for some attagirls from the internet please 😭
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Husband swiped a piece of cake from the 13yo and she said under her breath "this is my villain origin story"
and now we are afraid very afraid
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Here's the excellent piece, gifted:
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Here's our writers' room. We are
• majority female
• 30% POC
• ready to write you a kick-ass Season 21 of
#SVU
.
Buckle up!
#ShowUsYourRoom
#RepresentationMatters
@SVUWritersRoom
@nbcsvu
@warrenleightTV
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Two more sleeps until
#SVU
#CounselorItsChinatown
. To tide you over, here's a selfie
@Mariska
took with my phone (I asked her to take it so I could post it here for you, she did not steal my phone, she is not an animal).
WATCH THU @ 10
#SVU21
@nbcsvu
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