As the writers’ strike continues one week later, it’s important to listen to the voice of TV and film industry veterans to fully understand what’s at stake in the entertainment world and why writers’ demands are more urgent than ever. Game of Thrones creator and producer George R. R. Martin has been open about his support for the strike, and today the best-selling author and screenwriter wrote an extensive blog post in which he talks about how studios are essentially killing the production chain by refusing to offer screenwriters proper work.
Martin refers to Not a blog as his only official channel, and in his latest blog post, he talked about his early years as a screenwriter during the production of a television series. Martin is widely known today for having written a series of novels. Song of Ice and Firewhich spawned the creation of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, Dragon House and all their upcoming spin-offs. But Martin worked as a screenwriter for many years and got his start in television writing episodes for a popular anthology series. Twilight Zone.
When he writes about his experience Twilight Zone, Martin revealed that he is “so green” that he would be invisible on a green screen. The writer uses his previous lack of experience to explain how the new writers were introduced to the world of television. Martin admits that “no film school in the world” could teach him what he learned at Twilight Zone set, where he stayed for a season and a half. Martin then notes that the involvement of a new screenwriter in the creation of the series is necessary to form new and capable professionals.
Martin explains how writers became workers
With the current production model, orders for series have been drastically reduced from 20+ episodes per season to ten, eight, and sometimes six. This is what ended up being “mini scripting rooms” where new writers are hired to help flesh out the season, write scripts, and then they get fired and have to look for another project. They do not participate or have a voice in any other part of the production, including table reading, rehearsals, the casting process, editing, or anything else. Some writers are not even invited to the set, or if they are, it is done out of courtesy, and they can only participate as an intern and for free.
According to Martin, mini-rooms are “an abomination” and their use is “not only wrong, but incredibly short-sighted.” One of the demands of the WGA strike is for mini-rooms to stop being the norm, for studios to stop treating new and even experienced writers as disposables, and to guarantee them a more stable source of income and allow them to be on the show. which they helped create and develop.
You can check out the full post on George R. R. Martin’s website.
All episodes from Game of Thrones And Dragon House available for streaming on Max.
Source: Collider
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