Yahoo News “Turning My 2-Year-Old Into a YouTube Star”: How 20 Writers Are Staying Creative as the Strike Hits 100 Days
When the Writers Guild of America went on strike May 2, the early days of the work stoppage saw scribes channel their creativity into picket signs that reflected their rage over such issues as AI and fair pay as their union went head to head with the studios and streamers that comprise the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
As the strike hits day 100 on Aug. 9, however, many writers have turned to new creative outlets that don’t violate the WGA’s rules of working on AMPTP-backed films and TV shows. While some struggle to write without external deadlines or after the picket line grind, others say they are content to remain busy making up for lost time with family.
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The last strike, in 2007, lasted 99 days. This time, the studios and streamers were 90-odd days into the walkout before both sides agreed to even talk about talking again. So with no clear end in sight, The Hollywood Reporter polled writers to find out how they’re staying creative after pounding the pavement in the mornings.
Zack Bornstein (Shrinking)
The strike is my priority No. 1, but outside the pickets and my work as a WGA captain, I’ve been able to use the extra time to pitch a book, perform more stand up, go to the dentist and do absurd amounts of research for a biopic I’ve wanted to write but always felt too daunting. Now I have no excuses.
Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries)
As I sensed the strike looming, I knew I needed to find ways to fill the day creatively and substantively or I would lose my mind, so I did what every normal parent does and invested 100 percent of my energy into turning my 2-year-old into a YouTube star. A week into the strike, my wife and I had a script, set, green screen, lights and wardrobe. But despite our enthusiasm, it turned out that the same 2-year-old who doesn’t listen to me when I say, “Stop dumping out the bubbles!” also doesn’t listen to me when I say “Action, cut” or “stop eating the props.” The experiment was a blast though, and it afforded us the only silver lining of this strike, which is a rare abundance of quality family time.
Kevin Falls (This Is Us)
I started to write an eight-episode streamer during the pandemic and got about halfway through. I’ll finish it during the strike. But it could end up on the same shelf with my pandemic novel. I’m hardest on my own stuff. And you know what else? I don’t have a writing staff. Turns out, writers are very, very helpful.
Stephen Falk (You’re the Worst)
Between having small children, an aging parent, a new puppy and suddenly no job or purpose, my desire to write quickly hissed away like air from a popped bike tire. I eventually decided it would be good for my mental and financial health to emerge from the strike (in 2025) having written something, so I did begin outlining a feature. I quickly realized that given how much I hate outlining when said outlines must be turned in and invoiced for and read and noted by studios and networks, my desire to outline for myself was about equal to my desire to own a pet macaw or pay Elon Musk for a blue checkmark. So, I have been writing a genre feature without a real road map, and it’s been frustrating at times but overall creatively freeing.
Sera Gamble (You)
A big reason I became a writer is because I discovered that inventing stories is a better use of my mental energy than obsessing over things I can’t control. So, my writing practice is as much about taking care of myself as about generating stuff to sell. Doubly when things are stressful, like now. This strike has reminded me that it can be fantastic to work in Hollywood — I feel fortunate to do so and would love to get back to it — but it’s good for artists to venture beyond its borders. One thing I’m working on is a book of poems. I can’t recommend it highly enough — reserving a bit of bandwidth to write something just because it pleases you.
Linda Ge (Vampire Academy)
Before the strike, many of us had grand plans to “write something new,” maybe that dream spec we’ve always wanted to write but never had the time to. But I don’t think any of us realized how exhausting picketing would be, how much it would take out of us, not just physically, but mentally. It took a combination of my body getting used to its new routine, hearing from friends that they had tentatively started thinking about writing again, and reading a book about prolific Hollywood filmmakers (Easy Riders, Raging Bulls), that finally spurred me back into writing. Now I write an hour a day every morning before going to picket. That, I’ve found, is the key. You’ll probably be too tired to do anything productive after picketing, so do it beforehand.
Jonathan Groff (This Fool, Modern Family)
I’m working on an autobiographical idea with Jon Pollack that we’ve been kicking around for a while. It’s a half-hour period piece set in a suburban New Jersey high school about bright, nerdy kids in the world of the late ’70s stoners and meatheads. It felt like this was an opportunity to think about it and do some research, so I’ve been reading a lot of books set in that time and about rock history. We’re doing it as a spec to possibly take out and try to sell when this is over and then write it. But if the strike goes on, maybe we’ll just write it. Outside of that, I’ve been helping to secure items for the WGA garage sale.
Marc Guggenheim (Legends of Tomorrow)
I’ve been struggling with staying creative and productive during the strike. I wrote about my problems in my (semi) weekly substack. I’ve found that having deadlines really helps. I’m currently focused on edits on my next novel (to be published in June) and a variety of comic book projects (Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Men, Deadpool).
Katori Hall (P-Valley)
It was hard to turn off the spigot because the P-Valley characters were running around in my head talking me to death because our writers’ room ended a few days before Day 1 of the strike. But then I turned back to my first boo — the theater. I broke out an old play, The Blood Quilt, and did a reading at Lincoln Center. It was life-affirming during what has been a truly anxiety-inducing time. I’ve started cracking open other plays that I’d long since put in the drawer.
Joe Henderson (Lucifer)
When the strike started, I didn’t write for a month. That’s the longest I’ve gone without writing since 2001, when I moved out to L.A. A month in, my brain was freaking out to write because it’s what I love to do. I have written two comics for Image, Skyward and Shadecraft, and I’m writing the comic I was always planning on writing. That’s been a salvation. I’d rather be doing it under other circumstances than this but at the same time, it’s one of the things that keeps me sane — next to going out on the line.
Steven Kane (Jack Ryan)
During the 2007-08 strike, I wrote a couple of one-act plays and enjoyed learning a new form with its rules and constraints. What started as an experiment turned into an actual production that played in a theater in L.A. for six months. This time, with the guidance and help of Geoff Johns, I’ve written my first graphic novel. In some ways, comics are more freeing than TV and film: You can write whatever you want, there’s no budget restraining you, no location issues or CGI required. Also, you’re not only the writer, but in many ways you’re also the director and editor, choosing the shots, the framing and the rhythm of the piece. When the strike ends, maybe I’ll get the chance to do another experiment: turning a graphic novel into a TV show. You never know.
Angela Kang (Silk: Spider Society, The Walking Dead)
It took a long time and it was very hard for me to switch creative gears because of the stage my latest writers’ room was in leading up to the strike. We had just finished laying out the first season in detail and a lot of what I’ve been interested in exploring thematically and personally was baked into that story. The show was my passion project! I felt constantly guilty about not being more “productive” (working on that in therapy!). I picketed and tended to my health and spent a lot of time with my 10-year-old and that has all been much needed, but I don’t feel fully like myself if I’m not also being creative. A few weeks ago, I started scheduling time to write daily again and the structure has been helpful. It’s not always writing a script — I’ve been working on prose too.
Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead)
Before the strike, I was working around the clock on Beacon 23 and consulting on The Rookie. I had a good beginning of the year, wrote a pilot and then the strike hit. After about three weeks, I started wanting to write. None of my ideas were script ideas — I just don’t trust the Hollywood development process; I have had too many busted pilots that I put my heart and soul into. I have always had this side project — a big sci-fi novel — that I started outlining in October 2015. It’s now or never. What’s liberating is I’m the arbiter what that story is. So much of my creative time has been spent in collaboration with people — and that’s great — but it’s nice to have a story where I can decide that a tangent for 30 pages can stay in. This is bringing me back to a type of joy I haven’t had in my work for a long time.
Brittani Nichols (Abbott Elementary)
To me, the spirit of a work stoppage is to actually stop working. So that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m not overly concerned with maintaining my creative muscles because I think capitalism has destroyed pure artistry and thus writing is intrinsically labor even when it is creatively fulfilling. A lot of my energy has gone into being one of the lot coordinators at Warner Bros. where I wheel around ice cream sandwiches, maintain vibes and am anal about the snack table.
Monica Owusu-Breen (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
I’m writing a script that no one would ever buy — but I love — about life in the circus. I’ve also been cooking. I love cooking but never cook the same thing twice. I’m an “improvisational chef,” as my kids say. I’ve discovered the fun of cooking when I’m not trying to rush dinner after working all day. I’m surprised at how much fun I’m having.
Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory)
I’ve been working on a play that explores my relationship with my father and the circumstances surrounding his recent death. I had been tinkering with it for years, but made the decision to wait until Dad passed to start writing — he died about a year and a half ago. During the last season of Big Bang, I wound up sitting with William Shatner and we got into a conversation about our dads. At some point, I described a particular incident with my father and he said, “That’s how your play should start.” When I actually went to write, I was blocked for weeks. I went over my notes and found the suggestion from Shatner. He was right.
Ellen Rapoport (Minx)
I’m using the downtime to write a screenplay that I’d like to direct — or hand off to the hologram that replaces me. I do find it challenging to feel inspired when our industry is on fire and so many people are out of work. If this goes on much longer, I might have to get into literal porn.
Marja-Lewis Ryan (The L Word: Generation Q)
I’m going back to my roots in the theater. I emailed one of my mentors, David Mamet, to see if he had any plays and I’m directing and producing one, Henry Johnson. He provides cast and funding, I do all the manual labor. It’s just the two of us. It’s a very different feeling after being in TV for a few years and it feels good to be shaping something. We open Sept. 1 at the Electric Lodge in Venice, California, for a four-week run.
Patrick Schumacker (Abbott Elementary)
I’ve been using this strike time to catch up on all the movies, TV shows, books and comics that I didn’t have time for during the Before Times™️. Some call it personal development. I call it self-preservation, knowing that when this is over, knock on wood, I’ll still have three shows (Abbott Elementary, Harley Quinn and its spinoff), plus numerous development projects to get back to work on and I’d like to do a big reset on my brain. If you told me this is laziness, I couldn’t argue. I haven’t touched Final Draft since the strike began, other than reading friends’ specs and giving feedback. But I have been trying to mentor film students through my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, as well as speak to other students whenever possible.
Liz Tigelaar (Tiny Beautiful Things)
The thing I’ve been doing (besides picketing) is painting. As I pursued writing, art was always something I was drawn to. It would get me out of my head and be all-consuming. And every few years I experiment with different styles and materials. I make a few pieces then put it aside for another few years. When the strike started, I felt unmoored without writing. And I knew I would find instant happiness in painting again.
Julie Wong (Grey’s Anatomy)
I spent the first few weeks of the strike on the picket line and catching up on doctor’s appointments, house stuff, books, movies, museums, TV shows — the things I usually do when we’re on hiatus. But after a couple of weeks, the errands started to taper off. So, I started working on a project that is just for me — a story that draws inspiration from the many summers I spent as a kid with my grandparents in Central California, specifically within the vibrant Japanese American community there.
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