3 ms·

Most writers don't even have a ton of creative freedom though. That's a big part of the reason there's so much derivative TV.

3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago
Indeed. But a big reason for this is that the homogenizing nature of the union they're in, focuses on getting more people into the writing room, and giving them more minimum baseline pay, and completely ignores the concept of people building names for themselves, standing out, so they feel they have the creative freedom to experiment and truly express themselves. And for studios to entrust them with greater risks. Writers will never admit they drove themselves into that hole. Bargaining individually against large corporations was indeed not tenable, but the way this union is run, they're victims of it just as much as victims of the studios. This is why studios rely so much on existing IP. Among the writers no one stands out. But if you lean on existing book, game, comic, you lean on something that stands out, so it has audience and apparently made an impression because it has quality. Imagine if directors had a union that operated like the WGA. 1. Every movie must have a director's room of at least 10 people. 2. They should get minimum this much pay per year. 3. The director's room hired must match a diverse profile of genders and races as this formula says. And so on. You can literally see in this how we'd never get a Christopher Nolan, or a Quentin Tarrantino, or a Scorcese, or Paul Thomas Anderson. Some of the best scripts out there were a vision of one person. WGA actively sabotages this, as they thrive on having more members and this requires more of their people hired per project. When you say "PRODUCED BY" or "DIRECTED BY" it means something, while "WRITTEN BY" rings hollow, which is why it's rarely ever in marketing. Absurd, but a fact. You hire a room of "little people" propped up by a union contract, and they feel like they're there to do what the studios tell them, not as artists that own the project, but just employees. On top of that they need to juggle a script with their colleagues each of whom pulls the story in different "diverse" directions, until everything unique and specific is torn apart and only the most homogenous and bland elements remain. And of course the result is mediocrity. WGA actively forces through their contract higher entropy in scripts. This is how high entropy looks: something that's homogenous, has a little of everything, doesn't stand out, blends with the environment (cultural in this case) and has no potential to make an impact.

3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago

Indeed. But a big reason for this is that the homogenizing nature of the union they're in, focuses on getting more people into the writing room, and giving them more minimum baseline pay, and completely ignores the concept of people building names for themselves, standing out, so they feel they have the creative freedom to experiment and truly express themselves. And for studios to entrust them with greater risks. Writers will never admit they drove themselves into that hole. Bargaining individually against large corporations was indeed not tenable, but the way this union is run, they're victims of it just as much as victims of the studios. This is why studios rely so much on existing IP. Among the writers no one stands out. But if you lean on existing book, game, comic, you lean on something that stands out, so it has audience and apparently made an impression because it has quality. Imagine if directors had a union that operated like the WGA. 1. Every movie must have a director's room of at least 10 people. 2. They should get minimum this much pay per year. 3. The director's room hired must match a diverse profile of genders and races as this formula says. And so on. You can literally see in this how we'd never get a Christopher Nolan, or a Quentin Tarrantino, or a Scorcese, or Paul Thomas Anderson. Some of the best scripts out there were a vision of one person. WGA actively sabotages this, as they thrive on having more members and this requires more of their people hired per project. When you say "PRODUCED BY" or "DIRECTED BY" it means something, while "WRITTEN BY" rings hollow, which is why it's rarely ever in marketing. Absurd, but a fact. You hire a room of "little people" propped up by a union contract, and they feel like they're there to do what the studios tell them, not as artists that own the project, but just employees. On top of that they need to juggle a script with their colleagues each of whom pulls the story in different "diverse" directions, until everything unique and specific is torn apart and only the most homogenous and bland elements remain. And of course the result is mediocrity. WGA actively forces through their contract higher entropy in scripts. This is how high entropy looks: something that's homogenous, has a little of everything, doesn't stand out, blends with the environment (cultural in this case) and has no potential to make an impact.