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You're listening to The Takeaway. I'm Melissa Harris Perry. The Writers Guild of America,

which includes some 11,000 writers in film, television, radio, and online media is entering

the third week of a work stoppage. It's the first time they've hit the picket lines in 15 years.

And the strike has shut down a number of high

profile productions already, including major late night talk shows, Saturday night live, and the

final season of Stranger Things. The takeaway spoke with a member who has been on the picket

lines in Los Angeles. We need to live in wage. We need to be able to survive. We need to be able to eat and care

for our families and know that this is a career that's sustainable. At the moment, it isn't.

It is not sustainable. I am Monise Mitchell Sims. I'm a TV writer, screenwriter, author,

producer, and a member of the

Writers Guild. Monise has been a screenwriter for 26 years. Recently, she got her first TV staff

writing job, writing for all the Queen's Men on VET Plus. You know, you might sell a screenplay

for six figures and then you don't sell anything else for another 10 years.

Or you might work on a TV show and you're doing really well for, you know, however long that TV show is on the air.

But then you don't work again for another two years or three years.

And it's really difficult being a creative person in Hollywood when you're not

being paid and you're not being supported for your work. So I totally understand why we're

striking. Among the demands of the writers are higher wages, better residuals, and assurances

of how AI may be used. I think a lot of times us as writers, we don't realize that we're part of a community because

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