Amazing show! Thanks for such a deep dive! Just wanted to add that the name of the community evicted to build to Central Park was SENECA VILLAGE - a mainly black community with some immigrant families who had built their own homes!

Thank you Billy for being my companion over this difficult time. I am a cinematographer turned director. You entertained, informed and educated me in immeasurable ways. You humanized this complex subject that left me missing the people I love collaborating with. Your guest are heavy hitters offering spectacular insight but the most eye opening episode was the penultimate episode with Fran, Meredith and Todd. I must have forwarded the link to dozens of filmmaking friends. I extol the renaming of the amptp to amptS. Yes, producers are collaborators. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This has been an absolutely wonderful podcast and source of strength, solidarity and information during the strikes. Thank you so much for all the time and effort put into it!!! I disagree with you that SAG got the “best they could” in terms of AI. I actually feel they gave away way too much paving the way for synthetic performers to become normalized, but aside from that, I loved everything else. Bravo!

Thank you all, for having hosted this podcast series since day one of the strike, back in May. I write this as the actors strike has finally ended after over 110 days, and I myself was a strike captain volunteer each weekday these last few months since July. The amount of comraderie that I felt picketing alongside my union and the WGA and other union members was extraordinary and I’ll never forget it. So often as working actors on the low end like me… we spend so much time searching for work and waiting for opportunities to be presented to us to work and competing with our peers but the one beautiful thing about this strike was I never felt ALONE. I’ve been an actor for 20 years and it’s been a very lonely and isolating endeavor at times, but marching and picketing and volunteering and tuning into the weekly panels hosted here gave me a sense of community within this industry I’ve searched for my entire life. Im thrilled this has ended, but in a way I am mourning my weekday schedule suddenly ending, and my tuning in weekly to listen to this auditory recap and panel. I just hope moving forward we may carry the sense of community we found within the strike, and a bit part of that was this wonderful podcast. Thank you.

Lov show, you posted an hour ago, but late nights nights get us all — Leonardo didn’t sculpt the David — (Michelangelo). Wouldn’t have bothered if the show wasn’t so good.

This is an exceptional podcast. The five minute essays delivered at the beginning of each podcast by the host, Billy Ray, are not only educational, but exquisitely written and wildly entertaining. And Billy Ray, in his decision to continue making the podcast even after his union, the Writers Guild, already got their a deal, is incredibly generous. As acting coach in Los Angeles, I am beyond grateful to Billy Ray and Deadline for this unbelievable gift.

Come on, Billy. How can you bring this war criminal monster onto this podcast about labor? Like, why? This makes no sense. He admittedly has nothing to do with Movie or TV writing. What is wrong with you, guys?

Great podcast! I’m not in the industry, except very, very tangentially, so I’m learning a lot. I agree with the guest this week who asked to hear from some writers who have been struggling in the current system. I think we heard from some head writers and some showrunners, but I’d like to hear from some in-the-trenches writers, to get a better understanding of what it’s like. I appreciate all the different kinds of guests, btw.

Bill Ray is fair and thorough in his relevant discussion of all things labor. I have encouraged so many members of other guilds to listen hoping they can gain an understanding of the negotiations process in general as it impacts their particular craft/career. I think it’s especially important to understand the employers perspective and while I really love hearing Billy the tow hall approach has been really insightful and thought provoking. I hope you never stop doing this Billy! I am an IATSE member, I mention this in hopes others will see my review and listen as our time with the AMPTP is coming next year and I think this provides a great primer for understanding that room. (I am on the negotiations committee and was last time around)

Boy oh boy am I pro labor. Boy oh boy does this podcast fail to read the room when they begin the episode with “we’re Hollywood. We pride ourselves on originality” (I mean…) and then spend the rest of the episode hypothesizing how to get paid from AI cobbling together a script that mixes Tarantino with Troy Duffy or whoever instead of wrestling with whether or not that is a good thing to do for a business that (sorry guys) has been hostile to originality since it’s inception. A tad more self awareness would make this pod wildly more sympathetic to needed allies.

Best podcast on the strike, always illuminating, Billy Ray is great. But jeez oh man, the audio quality is so bad I can’t hear anyone speak if I’m going over 45. Just awful and the only reason I give it 4 stars not 5.

Crucial perspective… but in particular in this new week 14 episode, wherein there’s a level of veil-lifting that I didn’t think would ever be expressed in public. Thank you for doing it.

This podcast is the place to go in order to learn the stakes and context of the WGA strike.

Listening to this podcast is essential for everyone in show business, as it provides valuable education, insights, and updates on our industry, including unions and the ongoing strike.

I have immense respect for Billy Ray, whose thoughts and insights are invaluable during this strike. I’ve enjoyed the conversations here. However, disappointed this pod is associated with Deadline. Deadline is not trade journalism, it is essentially a gossip blog beholden to the talent agencies and studios it relies on for scoops and advertising. Billy and Todd don’t need it to make or find the audience for this podcast. Would hope artistic professional leaders like them would seek to avoid association with that site.

Host Billy Ray is pithy and insightful. So are the guests. 1u 💪🏻

This is an excellent analysis of the current WGA strike in progress and the historical anecdotes starting each episode are helpful in getting us into the discussion at hand, however, we can’t seem to have just ONE episode that doesn’t have a soapbox bemoaning of ‘how Trump has hurt our American way.’ Yes, he’s terrible. So was Bush, so was Obama, so was the “war on terror” that killed millions of innocents. The bias is painful in that it makes it hard to take the show seriously. Other than the slip-in ‘trump derangement syndrome’ commentary, the guests and the great questions being asked on residuals and the existential issue of AI make this a must-listen show each week (I anxiously wait for the release each Friday).

Pension is not the number one issue. And yes, we'll strike.

I’m pro strike and, while the podcast does have some strong points and good interviews, it devolves into repetitive, often long-winded, combative diatribes by Billy Ray who can’t stop talking about how he’s a “staunch capitalist”. So there’s good capitalism vs egregious capitalism? And this egregious form of capitalism is taking money away from a couple of millionaires and putting in the hands of billionaires and that’s just wrong eh? Please. I also love how Todd is very focused and articulate yet Billy just starts every podcast episode with an analogy or history lesson that goes on for 10 minutes straight. The audio on that Bill Mechanic episode was unbearable and I could hardly hear anything he said, while Todd’s mic kept clipping.

This podcast is invaluable in understanding the strike from the writers’ POV.

It’s great to hear such comprehensive info, but the quality of sound is really rough. I know the joke is, “they’re writers, not sound guys…” But c’mon it should be modulated better.

I tried out this podcast because I wanted a behind-the-scenes look at the goings-on of the WGA strike. I am an ardent supporter of the strike, so I thought the two hosts would give valuable insights. But during the first episode, one of the hosts talked about how the strike wasn’t about corporate greed, but about the extinction of a career as a writer in Hollywood. The one is directly tied to the other. He also talks about how capitalism powers this country and he’s a staunch capitalist. That’s where the podcast lost me. We definitely need Black professionals who work in Hollywood to get their perspectives on this strike. This country was founded on capitalism? Yeah, as a Back man I agree that it was. It lead to white Europeans creating the institution of chattel slavery- and that legacy still stains this country to this day. So I have a knee-jerk reaction whenever I hear people gush about the virtues of capitalism and how it made this country “great.” This country was never great, it has always been divided, and Hollywood has a poor track record of its treatment of its Black professionals and professionals from other marginalized groups. These two privileged white men are definitely not the ones that I want to receive insider perspectives on the WGA strike.

I wanted to wait til I got up to date before writing anything. Full disclosure I do not support the WGA or this strike. From listening to this podcast I have learned some things that the writers definitely should get, mostly the structure of payment. It has helped me understand things I did not it also has confirmed some things I guessed. Todd, your questions and deeper dives I am very grateful for and this podcast would not be as good if you are absent. And from a crew member you should be proud of doing a movie this summer, you are actually getting people work who need it as opposed to picketing, that has directly put myself and friends out of work. Billy Ray, although disagreeing with a great deal of his comments, I appreciate his honesty and sincerity and most importantly the sharing of his knowledge and definite expertise on this topic. Thank you for putting this. Paul

Sooo informative and eye awakening as it asks some pertinent questions. Great interviews. I needed this. It’s giving me hope in humanity and the long game

Hate the high pitched sound when Todd speaks. It hurts my ears. I listen with earbuds.

The best podcast on the issues. First time I’ve heard anyone dissect the language of the AMPTP’s response to AI, with a very clear explanation of its implications.

The “podcast” is highly entertaining, informative and generally well performed. I’m a lifelong guild member (ADG), and union business owner within Film&Tv (not going to sum up resume here, it’s a long very substantial list, but also irrelevant to the point) I was on phone with the WGA East business rep yesterday, and brought up the question of those employed within the general industry and the continued streaming service monthly purchases. We DO understand (hopefully) that the monthly baseline income of subscribers if unchecked has the potential to prolong the work stoppage and fuel the AMPTP side of the bargain? If a few quarters in profit losses, as other organized labor body’s (ie teachers Union etc… join in the fight) back the cause, it would assist our efforts exponentially. Not sure why were not sending memos at the moment. Concerned industry listener.

Grateful for your perspectives. As someone on the below the line side of things (set dec), it’s really helpful to hear an extension of the issues at hand. Glad you’re doing this

Billy Ray is absolutely fantastic in this podcast and shines a light on the realities of this current strike. It’s a must listen for all.

Great show. As a film and tv producer, want to point out that to release a movie on a streaming platform versus theatrical adds not only in a small way to the writer fees but also to the budget as there is a financial uplift that goes to all union members (crew, SAG, etc. Unless prenegotiated I don’t think producers participate as we sadly have no union). I produced a $22M movie which was budgeted for streaming when Disney decided to add the theatrical rates to all their streaming movies and we added about $750K to our budget (which we had to eat, of course). That was only for crew rates, not SAG or our needle drops. Not sure why that lopsided choice was made…lots of contractual union considerations must be factored in. And, if the decision is made AFTER the shoot to move from streaming to theatrical, there is a penalty on top of the uplift fees. Which is a long way of saying that streaming has gotten away with murder by underpaying all of us and it’s time for parity. The pay structure is very much rigged in their favor.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Billy Ray, and veteran producer Todd Garner provide a lively and informative take on the WGA Writers’ Strike in this hour-long podcast. Ray, who has served on previous negotiating committees with studio executives, connects the current environment in Hollywood to the corporatization of goods and services, in general. When corporations take the emphasis away from quality, in favor of quantity, he says it makes it easier to devalue the people doing the work. This dehumanization is being felt across the country, in many different sectors. Quoting a recent survey, Ray laments 65% of Americans believe they don’t matter. “If you’re running [a corporate studio], you’re not sitting down and reading reviews of your shows. What you’re looking at is your quarterly earnings and how that’s affecting your stock price.” Garner points out that corporate dispassion for the art actually places the studios at an advantage when it comes time to negotiate. He notes writers “are being squished down because we’re passionate about our art.” Writers have been willing to accept less money because they want to see scripts made and are betting on themselves, while corporations are only interested in the bottom line. Ray sums up the writers’ strike in words he says he may live to regret, “We’re trying to save the business from the people who own it.”

Pls invite Nicole Yorkin on.