George R.R. Martin voices full support for writers strike (even if it disrupts some of his projects)
Game Of Thrones mastermind George R.R. Martin shares a personal update about the Writers Guild of America strike
Aux News George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin may be best known as the mind behind the Game Of Thrones novels (A Song Of Ice And Fire, for all the readers out there), but the HBO adaptations are not his first rodeo. No, Martin has been a card-carrying member of the Writers Guild of America since the ’80s, as he explains in a new set of blog posts, and his experiences in writing television are precisely why he’s so supportive of a strike now.
Like all writers, the strike comes at some personal cost, Martin shares. GOT spin-off A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight has closed its writers’ room (“Ira Parker and his incredible staff of young talents are on the picket lines”). Wild Cards was passed over by Peacock: “We will try to place it elsewhere, but not until the strike is over,” the author writes. Dark Winds’ second season is safely wrapped, but House Of The Dragon faces a tricky filming situation: while “Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc.,” the strike means “those scripts must be shot EXACTLY as they were as of midnight on May 1. Not a word can be changed, cut, added, not a scene can be altered,” Martin explains. “All that requires writing… and from now until the strike ends, the writers will be on picket lines, not on sets.”
(The Winds Of Winter novel, unaffected by a film and TV strike, “continues to be priority number one,” if anyone was wondering.)
There are lots of good reasons writers have for striking, but the infamous “mini rooms” are what Martin identifies as his personal most important issue. To demonstrate, he shares how much he learned as a junior writer on The Twilight Zone reboot in the mid-’80s, getting to be on set and learn every step of production firsthand. With the mini room model, as Martin lays out, writers at the bottom of the ladder are being deprived of the experiences they need to move up in the industry. In fact, he writes, “Streamers and shortened seasons have blown the ladder to splinters.” The studios’ offer to allow some writers to “shadow” and “observe” on set, unpaid, is an insulting counter, to hear Martin describe it.
“Mini-rooms are abominations, and the refusal of the AMPTP to pay writers to stay with their shows through production—as part of the JOB, for which they need to be paid, not as a tourist—is not only wrong, it is incredibly short sighted,” Martin states. “If the Story Editors of 2023 are not allowed to get any production experience, where do the studios think the Showrunners of 2033 are going to come from?”
For those struggling to understand how the industry has changed behind the scenes and what writers mean when they say the career is facing “existential threat,” Martin’s personal account is as elucidating as it is enlightening. You can check it out for yourself here.
35 Comments
Guy who hasn’t written anything in years supports writers refusing to write.
I guess this checks out.
He went on strike in solidarity with the WGA the last time, it’s just no one told him that one ended.
Perfect. Just 💯. All stars, no notes.
Personally, I’m amazed that after all these years George RR Martin has written something I want to read.
The worst part about the delay is actually that he HAS written stuff in the past ten years. Just not the thing we want. He wrote tons of fake history that is the basis for House of the Dragon. As a huge nerd I liked it, but it’s still frustrating.
If the Story Editors of 2023 are not allowed to get any production experience, where do the studios think the Showrunners of 2033 are going to come from?Google, Intel, and ChatGPT.
A showrunner doesn’t just write the show, they essentially direct the entire production, set the schedule, have the final say on casting, work out the budget, and deal with any random problems that may arise. They are almost always writers but they are never JUST writers.
ChatGPT can do all that, huh?
David Zaslav probably believes it could.
*sing*
One wiener next to another…TWO wieners alongside still another…!
I always thought the “RR Martin is obsessed with wieners” joke was sorta off-base. Sure he describes some dong (fat pink mast!) but he describes far more breasts. And food, for that matter. I doubt he had any input on how often dong was hung on the show. That said that song never fails to make me chuckle. and the bit with the horses.
Fine, I could sing “titties” or “boobies” to the same melody.
“Hey, I read on the Internet this morning that ChatGPT can do everything a showrunner does!” — some Hollywood executive, probably
In solidarity, he will continue to not write his next book. As long as it takes, probably even longer.
The Winds of Winter novel, unaffected by a film and TV strike, “continues to be priority number one,” if anyone was wondering.Good one. Tell us another, George.
He can’t. Making up lies counts as writing.
He’s coming up with an excuse soon!®
My favorite work of his is when he dies without finishing that novel.The internet might actually explode. It will be hilarious.
EXACTLY as they were
This link is broken.
he’s been striking in solidarity for about 12 years now
Might be due to him being a writer, and being on strike for a decade or so
Me reading the headline: Oh this will be a fun comment section…
Finding out that Wild Cards is being shopped to Peacock is really killing my hopes here. ATM that service gives me the vibe of D+ but without compelling franchises.
Maybe he can take this time where his other projects are on hold, to you know…..F’ing write WINDS OF WINTER?!
GRRM is so supportive of the writers, he’s been on strike since 2011.
Derby Crush: lead singer of The GRRM!
Of course he supports not-writing.
Super telling that the “He’s been on strike for years” joke is being bandied about by a whole bunch of blue-checkmarked fascists on Twitter as well. Get a new schtick and quit being so entitled. My favorite take is that he’s “Morally and legally obligated” to finish the series. Read another fucking book, folks.
I knowww, just hurr-hurr-hurr all around, all these people so offended that they might not get a conclusion to the story they love that they can’t stand the guy that wrote the story they love. Not a shred of appreciation.I dearly love the books, and I would love to see them finished, but at this point I’m in full Lucille Bluth “good for her” mode.
If fascists like something, it must be bad! This is why I no longer breathe, eat food, or use my eyes to look at things.
Those fascists better not start ejaculating!
Correct, no matter which kind you’re talking about.
Everyone I disagree with are “fascists”!
George wRiters stRike Martin
“GOT spin-off A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight has closed its writers’ room”
fuck. FUCK. BIG FUCK
Shocker.