Maytha Alhassen, Co-executive Producer and Writer, Ramy
Moderator: Alex Sternlicht, Tech Reporter, FORTUNE

MPW Next Gen 2023 - Creativity And New Tech: Lessons From The Writers’ Room

Conferences

Creativity And New Tech: Lessons From The Writers’ Room

Weeks ago. On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America went on strike for the first time in 15 years when contract negotiations began. Six months ago, the main contention points were focused on receiving residuals, better pay and more space in the writing rooms. What has evolved from those initial conversations is the use of artificial intelligence in lieu of or in conjunction with storytelling. Chat B four was released in November of 2022 gained public prominence in March of this year. Like many others WGA has expressed concerns about A I and they have asked the alliance of motion picture and television producers to agree to not utilize AI to write or rewrite stories, but rather use it as a tool so that writers can ensure residuals and jobs for the future to discuss the latest on the labor dispute and what the future holds for artificial intelligence in the writers room. Please welcome Metha, Metha Al Hasan, co executive producer and writer for Rami. She'll be joined by fortune tech reporter, Alex Sternlicht. Hi, everyone. I'm so excited to be here joined by who is actually fresh off the picket line. So thank you. For making it down here. Um I'd love to start with a question that I think is on all of our minds. Um What are your thoughts on A I in the writers' room? Is there a place for it at all? Yeah. So this is one that the A MP T P which is the conglomerate of studios came back with our demands around regulating AI with we'll have an annual meeting with information on advancements in technology. So they didn't even want to have this conversation on the table at all, which is frightening actually because not only are we striking on this A I issue? So is S A and D G A and they're in negotiations right now. So where A I could go and the perception that we are replaceable as writers is also confounding because it's the fact that art is the first frontier that they've hit as opposed to their jobs which are looking at ledgers and numbers is fascinating. Why are we drawn to art? Because there's something about the human touch that is encapsulated in what we write and how we see people act stories out. And I mean, if you use chat, chat GPT, you'll get like a breakdown of episodes, but it's incredibly generic. So we know that our power as writers cannot be replicated. However, those folks in the CEO position or executives just care about putting things through algorithms and not the way that we connect to story totally. And you know, as a writer myself, I would like to think that I can also not be replaced by a chat bot but, you know, A I is here to stay. Um So do you think, is there a place for A I in the writers' room at all or are we going cold turkey in your mind against A I, I mean, we're already using A I in some sort of capacity, right? We are using A I when we are looking things up that have been organized by something that is A I generated on the opposite side, maybe it is note taking. But again, the place is that we've designed in a writer's room and I think this is important for people to realize are part of the training to move up in ranks. And this is also the negotiations that we're having. So if you're replacing a writer's assistant to take notes, you're replacing somebody who's learning the process of being in a writer's room. So, I mean, I mean, to be honest, I would use it to write cover letters and things that are formulaic, but I don't think it has a place in art. So you're saying no, no, I mean, I would say no, yes, yes, I would say no. And by the way, my, my responses aren't a reflection of the WGA line on certain things. Of course, just, you know, we gotta, we gotta get this out there he's a W G. I'm a WGA member. Yes. Um So what about streaming? How has that altered the arc of your career? Yeah. So there are some advantages and disadvantages. I entered into the space when streaming was already full steam, the people that were there. And I've met folks on the picketing line that were at the picketing line in 2007. They were mostly dealing with standard networks that had 22 episodes and people that got production experience so you could write, go on set and you understood how to write for production and you had a job all year round. Now, with streaming episodes are getting shorter, there are 10 seasons are getting shorter. There are 10 episodes, there are eight episodes, there's six episodes and you're only working for a show for maybe nine weeks and you might think, oh, but look how much they're getting paid per week. Ok. Now you've got to take the manager's fee, you got to take the rep fee, you got to take the lawyer fee and then you get, they get the growths. So writers are making barely anything with these season orders that streaming has produced because all they wanna do is overproduce content. And again, the advantages is or are that we're getting stories that we couldn't get when there was only, I don't know, 2030 shows on network. But the disadvantages now that we've diversified, the storytelling were regarded as less valuable. Interesting. Um, does anyone in the audience have a question? No. Ok. That's all right. There is, there's a couple now just. Ok. Hello. My name is Zari Capra. Um, this is a great panel so far and as someone who is kind of outside looking in at this whole situation, I'm curious how you could support what kind of ways that we get involved. Yeah. And that's what's been really great about this time around is what we didn't have in 2007, 2008 is a robust social media. And of course, don't wage a war against a public narrative war against writers. You're going to lose with the public and with the public that is feeling the pain that we are all feeling across industries, right? So one way is to retweet, res support all the, the statements that we posted and your solidarity with the writer strike. Another way is to get employers to lend their support. Even the president has said this is unfair for you to continue and to not negotiate fair terms. And then a third way is we have a, we have two funds, we have a writers' fund and then we have an artist entertainment fund. I don't know the exact name, but that's for the other people who are not in the WGA that are losing so much the writer's assistance. And so they're going to be able to tap to this pool if folks donate. And what about unions? Like having, you know, walking on the ticket line uh daily. Do you think that unions are the best way for large groups of professionals to advocate for their causes? I, I mean, it's, it's proven a way to push the needle. Now, the, the only thing that I've seen in studying labor history that's been a challenge um is not being able to anticipate the, uh the, the way that an, an employer or C suite or whatnot is gonna squeeze you. And so again, like Starbucks unionizes and they close down that Starbucks store that, that has unionized, but I do think the power of the union is strong and W G A has proven multiple times that when they go full in and by the way, this vote was authorized 98% by our, our W G A body. Um that not only are we contending with um more power, more mobilizing power, but we encouraged S A DJ, all of the Hollywood unions to join us and they're renegotiating their contracts now too and teamsters as well. So teamsters are responsible for transportation. Um and before they weren't with us in 2007. Yeah, I mean, but what about, you know, you mentioned the squeeze. Yes, when you go back to work, which eventually will happen, do you think that there will be repercussions from executives um to people who are on the picket line? And we're super loud. Hm. Uh, I don't. Yeah, I'm, I, I wonder if that were to be the case, if they identified a target, if that would make them even more vulnerable. Because then I think people would feel like, ok, we're being punished for, you know, speaking out against our, our, you know, what, we're entitled to compensation wise. And I, again, I think that because this, this battle, I guess you could say this fight is being waged also on social media, but that's not gonna fly. Yes. Well, I mean, but I mean, I mean, I'm not gonna fly but of course, like, you know, when you're in your workplace and you've been super vocal about the way that you were mistreated. I think there's a lot of repercussions. I'm not, I, I'm not in the room. Yeah, I mean, I can't anticipate what that looks like. What is it? Netflix saying I'm not gonna work with this writer or they're not gonna be a co creator on this show or they're not gonna be staff maybe. Who knows? Yeah. So time will tell on that. I think we had another audience question. Thank you. This is incredibly interesting. My name is and I'm curious about um the responsibility and opportunity for shows and executives with writers to create the vision of the vision of the future we want to see to right size, the problematic narratives that are permeating our society and A I is generative of a world of the world we knew which might potentially perpetuate, right? Those problems. And so I'm curious about that tension uh because there are also a lot of show runners and executives who are out in the, in the world, sort of post jobs, et cetera saying, what can we do and what kind of narratives can we write? But if we don't have the people who are living those experiencing experiences writing that. Right. So I'm just wondering if that's been a part of the conversation? Is that a consideration of what is, what does that look like? Yeah, I mean, there's, you get a group of writers walking the line all day for like 56 miles and four hours. We're thinking a lot about things, right? And of course, a show like Black Mirror, if folks are familiar with it has eerily presented scripts of the near future that have been pretty consistent, isn't it wild? How Black Mirror seems to be projecting many different things that work? I mean, it's just like literally one step away. I think, you know, there are conversations that for so long we've invested in storytelling that has been this dystopian post apocalypse, lots of sand, lots of tattered clothes, not good food, vision of the world. I think we're interested in thinking about how do we harness technology and not be behind it and be in the front of it this time to create a vision of the world. And I love what you were saying that gives us different imaginary. So for example, why is an ai being used to replace all the low wage, minimum wage jobs that we don't want to do and let us do the art that we want to live and survive on versus the drudgery that feels like it's soul crushing. And what could it look like to say? Ok. A I handle how this, everything's going to be cleaned and A I do my taxes, right. Um Wouldn't that be amazing? So we don't have that much time left. Um In closing, you know, we all love TV, we all, you know, we love our writers and we want them to come back. What should people know about um the future of TV and the future of creative professionals in this strike? OK. So I'm going to tell you a couple of things and some numbers that are interesting and some facts that are interesting. So what we are asking for based on the revenue of the studios that are in a MP T P is less than 0.2% of their annual revenue per year and in some cases, 0.1%. So it's a fraction. And by, I think this week or next week they're going to have lost the amount of money they could have spent on negotiating this contract. Another thing is that in 2007, when there was a strike, what did they decide to do, renew a failing show called The Apprentice. So you're gonna get a lot of reality television. I think ABC just announced their schedule and it's literally 80% reality, like celebrity Jeopardy reruns of Avid Elementary that you can watch on Hulu. Um, it's a bleak vision for the world of storytelling that we would want to live in and I'm not knocking reality television. I'm a big consumer of it as well. But if you want that to be 90% of your TV, viewing diet, um, there are going to be consequences. Um, well, I, you know, love reality TV, but I'm also excited for the scripted shows to come back. So, thank you so much for your time. This has been a really wonderful panel. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you for.