Hello and welcome to another episode of I Way with Jimmy Lidramel, a podcast against shame and shame is the exact word of the day.

What we are about to discuss in this episode is soaked in shame because shame on the TV studios and networks and film studios that are destroying the lives of the very writers who make all of the content that keeps their businesses fucking running shame on them.

Right now I don't know if you've seen but in the news there's been a lot of talk about the writers strike right and so just in case you aren't aware in the United States of America the the writers guild are striking all of the writers across the country are striking refusing to go to work refusing to write a word because they are being exploited in ways that nobody is aware of in so many different ways they are just being pushed and pushed and pushed to the very edge of what anyone could withstand and I know that that might take

that about frivolous because this is writing and this is art and this is Hollywood and give a fuck but it is important for two reasons first of all all of us during the pandemic were able to get through that pandemic in no small part because of content because of music and art and film and TV that was made to keep us sane in our houses.

I know as someone who's been chronically ill my whole life that film and television has almost played as big a part as medicine in keeping me alive and keeping me in one piece and inspiring me and making me feel seen and less alone and less traumatized in my life it's just been that incredible escape art is important and we have to protect artists.

Also the issue that's going on is analogous to every single fucking industry in the world right now we are seeing similar things with teachers we are seeing similar things with factory workers as technology is growing and AI is fucking growing and it's corporations are getting more and more leeway to not pay their taxes and fuck over all their workers.

What is happening here is just symbolic of what's happening everywhere and if we don't pay attention to this now then everything is going to fall apart right in front of us as it already is starting to and so this strike is an opportunity for a much needed reset and an example to be set across other industries within Hollywood and outside of Hollywood.

But deliberately a lot of us don't actually know what the fuck is going on we don't know exactly what it is that the writers are striking for why they're striking and it feels very kind of naval gazing within the industry where it's like it just feels very obscure.

So I invited on my friend and one of my favorite writers Megan Amram who was one of the lead writers in the good place which is a TV show that I was in and without that TV show I probably wouldn't have this podcast now.

And she's one of the kind of captains of the strike and she's leading people she's very well informed.

She also doesn't claim to be the authority on this because there's so many different diverse issues but she was able to come here and clearly break down exactly what's happening.

Why it's happening who it's impacting what the impact of that is going to be for the history of content making i.e. diversity being pushed out after we just got into a better place.

And she's going to tell us what we can all do about it.

So in this episode we break down the different issues of the strike and why the writer strike is potentially more important than the massive one in 2007 which led to some of the most dog shit television in history in 2008.

That's what happens when you destroy your relationship with writers and you push them to the edge and you try and go on without them you get fucked over.

We discuss how the industry has changed you to streaming and how the studios want to treat and pay writers so little Megan explains how the strike is fighting to protect diverse writers and voices.

We explore why proper compensation is important and why making a living as a writer is so difficult currently and we get into the weeds of AI which has kind of been the big hot topic even though it's only one tiny part of everything they're having to fight for just to survive.

And we talk about the parameters of AI and what the writers want around its usage and so it's a fascinating chat but if you are someone who cares about art is worth looking into because right now the writers need all of our support as much as possible.

And so anything we can do to try to make sure that they feel supported and that the studios understand that we're not going to let these people who create all of the stories that we love be so violently exploited and taken for granted and pushed out of an industry they've spent their entire life.

Trying to make beautiful work within this isn't about art this isn't about people this isn't the writers creating a problem and denying everyone else the chance to work this is about corporations treating human beings like dockship and how it has to come to an end.

And so I hope you learn something from this chat the way that I did this is the excellent Megan am I.

I'm so glad to be here big Jamila Jamilfield.

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