> Zlotnik compares his team to “venture capitalists in a creative medium, where the businesses are the shows. The [writers’] room is part of a system of staged

> Zlotnik compares his team to “venture capitalists in a creative medium, where the businesses are the shows. The [writers’] room is part of a system of staged investment that manages the risk.” It’s interesting that the article makes this analogy, then compares mini-rooms to the gig economy. Are startup accelerators promoting lean methodology not exactly the same concept? The difference between getting into YCombinator and being “accepted” as an Uber driver is that the former has significant upside potential. Is this true of a scriptwriter in a mini-room? Very possibly, from a career progression perspective. But there also may be some exploitation - is your writing credit for Show That Hit It Big worth less in a world where new scripts are churned out by other mini-rooms daily? Makes you wonder what shows would be like if scriptwriters were given equity packages. But that wasn’t ever on the table. With or without this system, it’s tough breaking into screenwriting. This doesn’t change that - it’s just an optimization by the studio itself on how to use its human resources.