She Finally Makes it in Hollywood… Now She’s on Strike

I have a secret ambition shared by many. I think it would be so cool to write for a hit TV show. But Hollywood is a really tough business to break into. You have to be really good and really lucky.

Vanessa Herron, a Texas mother of four, tried for nearly 20 years to break in.

Vanessa Herron

Then, a year ago, she landed a job. A big job. She became a staff writer for “The Equalizer,” starring Queen Latifah, a CBS remake of the 1980s hit.

“It’s literally like winning the lottery,” Vanessa tells me.

But just as her life-long dream came true — in fact, only a couple weeks after seeing her name in the credits for the first time — Vanessa is out of work. She’s one of over 11,000 writers on strike as part of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Studios are tightening their belts after years of throwing money at anyone with a laptop and flooding the marketplace with content. They’ve inundated consumers with 5.2 trillion streaming channels — Netflix, Peacock, Hulu, AppleTV, Disney+, Amazon Prime, yada yada yada. The cost of subscribing to more than three services starts to add up (bring back the bundle!). Inflation is also making production more expensive, so there may be less money to go around to pay writers.

WGA strikes have historically been the longest and most painful in Hollywood. I covered the 1988 strike which lasted a full TV season — 22 weeks. A 100-day strike in 2007 cost the California economy an estimated $2 billion. Now, 16 years later, writers are striking over pay, especially for streaming shows that don’t go through traditional reruns and syndication. They’re also worried about the potential use of artificial intelligence in the writing process. “How do we manage that?” Vanessa wonders. “How do we work in concert with A-I?” The studios won’t even put the issue on the table.

Here’s a good summary of each side’s proposal.

Vanessa’s Journey from Texas to Tinseltown

I know Vanessa because she worked in the newsroom at KFI AM640, a talk radio powerhouse where I occasionally fill in as a host.

Radio news was never her goal. Vanessa and her husband moved to Los Angeles from Texas a couple decades ago to try to break into show biz.

“I’ve been writing my whole life,” she tells me. Even while she worked at KFI, Vanessa wrote scripts. She had a couple of them “optioned,” meaning a producer bought the exclusive rights to shop the script around and potentially put a deal together. The deals never panned out.

Vanessa went to writers conferences and collaborated with others, but success eluded her. Her husband encouraged her to apply for the Masters of Fine Arts screenwriting program at USC. “I thought, ‘I’ll never get in there.’”

But once her kids got older, Vanessa went ahead and applied. To her surprise, she was accepted. “That really was a game changer,” she recalls, laughing. “I put all my eggs in that basket, like, ‘I’m going to be a TV writer or I’m going to be on Skid Row.’”

A scholarship and fellowship covered her tuition, and Vanessa was later accepted into a writing program at one of the major studios. One day a woman at her church “prophesied” something shocking. “She said, ‘You’re gonna get hired before your get out of school,’” Vanessa recalls. “I thought, ‘That’s crazy.’”

Welllllll…

The week before graduation, Vanessa was hired as a staff writer for “The Equalizer.”

That was a year ago this month.

During her first season with the show, Vanessa co-wrote two episodes and contributed ideas for other storylines. “It’s been a dream come true.”

She traveled to New York to help produce her episodes on set and witness her scripts come to life. Seeing what she had envisioned in her mind play out in front of the cameras made everything seem so real. “I remember when I thought of a line, and now Queen Latifah is saying it!”

Here’s the trailer for one of Vanessa’s episodes:

She flew to Texas to watch her first episode with her parents so they could all be together when her name popped up in the credits. “We’re all sitting there, only to realize that our show had been preempted that night for the country music awards.” (She caught this screen grab a couple weeks later.)

So How Much Money Does a Staff Writer in Hollywood Make?

The strike is mostly about money, and I’m all about the money. So I asked Vanessa how much she’s paid under the current WGA contract. “The minimum for a staff writer is a little over $4,500 a week.”

Not bad.

However, writers don’t work 52 weeks a year. Writers on 8-episode streaming shows work less than half of that.

Also, out of their salary many writers pay for an agent, a manager, and an attorney, and those commissions can add up to 25% of your pre-tax income. “They don’t tell you that in film school,” Vanessa says.

After taxes, she and her husband (an aspiring director) were making enough to live a middle class life in Los Angeles. Their zip code was very different than the Kardashian’s, but still, she’d made it!

Until now.

There’s another concern for writers that has nothing to do with base pay or residuals. Opportunities for advancement are becoming more difficult. Many writers aspire to be a showrunner — the person who creates a series and has final creative control on set. But these days, fewer writers are learning that job. “I have a friend who’s working on two or three shows now for streamers who’s never been on set,” Vanessa tells me.

By the Way, What’s it Like in the Writers’ Room?

To me, the writers’ room is a mystical place where magic happens. I’ve never been in one, but I imagine a table surrounded by creative, smart, funny people feeding off of each other’s energy as they bounce ideas around and hone scripts.

I asked Vanessa what it’s really like. In her case, the writers meet over Zoom, a practice that began during Covid. Who comes up with plot ideas? “There are things that the writers bring to the room and say, ‘I feel passionately about this topic,’” she tells me. But she adds that sometimes the ideas come from the showrunners or the actors. For example, one of Vanessa’s scripts dealt with immigrants bused to New York. “That [idea] actually came from Queen Latifah and a personal experience she had where she was approached by someone in New York City who had sought asylum.”

What has surprised Vanessa the most about the writers’ room is how fast the process moves. When she’d taken writing classes and workshops, she was given months to complete a script. In the writers’ room, she might get a few weeks. That’s when co-writing with one of the show’s senior writers helps. “You think you already know what you need to do when you understand the craft, and they take it to the next level.”

A Script Without an Ending

How long will the strike last, and what kind of contract emerges? The writers and producers are still working on an ending.

However, knowing that a strike might happen, Vanessa and her husband started cutting expenses and squirreling away extra money a few months ago.

“It’s tough,” she says. She’s hoping her episodes rerun soon so that she can collect her first residuals. In the meantime, vacations have been canceled, and there’s no more eating out. “We used to have a date night, and we had a place we went to, they had our favorite table,” she tells me with a sigh. “I don’t know when they’ll see me again.”

She says work on the next season of “The Equalizer” was supposed to start this month. “Instead of the writers’ room, now we’re on the picket line.”

In fact, when we spoke, Vanessa had just finished picketing outside the CBS Radford Studio Center, a legendary complex in LA’s Studio City. This is where hits like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” were shot. A street on the backlot was used for “Seinfeld” exteriors.

“One of my bosses said something that really has stuck with me,” Vanessa tells me. “He said that every generation owes one strike that pushes the needle forward for our industry and for our profession.”

Vanessa just didn’t expect her “one strike” to happen so soon.

What Happens when ChatGPT Writes the Script?

Just for fun, I gave ChatGPT (OpenAI.com) the following prompt: “Explain the writers strike as if you were writing an episode for ‘The Equalizer.’”

It spit out a reply in about 30 seconds (geez!). Still, I don’t think Vanessa’s job is in danger yet. For one thing, maybe someone should tell the bot that the Equalizer’s last name is McCall, not McCallister.

If you have two minutes, here’s my AI-generated script:

INT. EQUALIZER'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

The Equalizer, ROBYN MCALLISTER, sits on her couch, engrossed in a news report on her television. The headline reads: "HOLLYWOOD IN CRISIS: THE WRITERS STRIKE."

ROBYN (sighs) Another strike. What's going on, Hollywood?

INT. HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK)

A group of frustrated WRITERS gather around a table, their faces marked with determination.

WRITER 1 (raises voice) Enough is enough! It's time to take a stand.

WRITER 2 (nods) We need fair treatment, better compensation, and recognition for our work.

INT. EQUALIZER'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Robyn leans forward, her eyes burning with empathy.

ROBYN (voiced with determination) These writers are fighting for their rights. They're demanding what they deserve.

INT. HOLLYWOOD STUDIO LOT - DAY (FLASHBACK)

The writers, now united, picket outside a grand STUDIO GATE, holding signs that read: "WORDS MATTER" and "FAIR TREATMENT FOR CREATIVITY."

INT. EQUALIZER'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Robyn turns off the television and stands up, ready for action.

ROBYN (grabs her coat) I can't sit idly by. It's time to lend a hand and bring some balance to this strike.

EXT. HOLLYWOOD STUDIO LOT - DAY

Robyn arrives at the picket line, drawing curious glances from the writers.

WRITER 3 (surprised) Robyn McAllister? The Equalizer?

ROBYN (nods) That's me. I believe in justice, and that includes fighting for fairness in all industries.

INT. HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK)

Robyn sits at the table with the writers, a sense of camaraderie in the air.

ROBYN (earnestly) Your words shape the stories that touch our hearts, provoke thought, and inspire change. Your fight is my fight.

INT. EQUALIZER'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Robyn paces back and forth, strategizing her next move.

ROBYN (voiceover) To bring about change, we need leverage. I'll gather evidence of the studio's mistreatment, expose their greed, and rally public support.

INT. HOLLYWOOD STUDIO EXECUTIVE OFFICE - DAY (FLASHBACK)

Robyn confronts a powerful STUDIO EXECUTIVE, her voice laced with conviction.

ROBYN (determined) You may hold the purse strings, but these writers hold the power of words. It's time for you to listen.

INT. EQUALIZER'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Robyn sits at her computer, typing away furiously, crafting a persuasive message for her online followers.

ROBYN (voiceover) I'll harness the strength of social media, bringing attention to the cause and encouraging solidarity.

INT. HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK)

The writers, inspired by Robyn's support, redouble their efforts, fueled by renewed hope.

INT. EQUALIZER'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Robyn stands tall, her eyes glinting with determination.

ROBYN (smirks) The balance is shifting, and justice will prevail.

INT. HOLLYWOOD STUDIO LOT - DAY

Robyn leads a massive crowd of supporters, marching in unity, their voices echoing.

And… scene!

Final flashback (or, FLASHBACK): Here are some NBC news stories from 1988 about the long, 22-week strike. The best part is seeing all of the old shows. Let’s hope the current strike is less than 22 days.