Premium – 258. A Writer, Producer, and Robot Walk Into a Mini-Room… (Patreon)

We get into the Writers Guild of America strike, why this is an important labor action to watch, the terrible conditions they are striking again, the mindset of the professional class of capital managers that control “content” production, and how the potential use of AI in tv/movies follows from already existing practices like “mini-rooms,” which brought gig economy dynamics to the work of writing.

Stuff we reference:

• As the Writers’ Strike Enters Its Third Week, the Studios Aren’t Budging https://jacobin.com/2023/05/writers-guild-of-america-strike-tv-shows-film-artificial-intelligence-studios
• TV Writers Say They’re Striking to Stop the Destruction of Their Profession https://jacobin.com/2023/05/writers-strike-wga-amptp-streaming-pay
• Is This the End of the TV Writers’ Room as We Know It? https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/the-end-of-the-tv-writers-room-as-we-know-it-mini-rooms
• Your Boss Wants AI to Replace You. The Writer’s Strike Shows How to Fight Back https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2023-05-11/column-the-writers-strike-is-only-the-beginning-a-rebellion-against-ai-is-underway
• Will a Chatbot Write the Next ‘Succession’? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/business/media/writers-guild-hollywood-ai-chatgpt.html
• ‘Disrespectful to the Craft:’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d37za/voice-actors-sign-away-rights-to-artificial-intelligence
• Writers vs. robots: Hollywood moved toward automation long before AI https://www.fastcompany.com/90893629/hollywood-started-leaning-toward-automation-long-before-ai

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)