THE NEW WGA CONTRACT WON'T SAVE US
Most of Us Aren’t Getting Hired… But We Can Still Make A Living
“Foreman says these jobs are going, boys, and they ain’t comin’ back.”
Bruce Springsteen, My Hometown
As I write this, the WGAW has announced on X that they’ve reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP (which represents the studios). The AMPTP confirmed in a separate statement.
The fact that there won’t be a strike is good news for EVERYONE. But it doesn’t change the reality I saw in a meeting of Guild members a month or so ago.
Before the negotiation, I stood in a room of hundreds of Writers Guild Members. The Guild laid out what our situation is. It’s no secret — here it is.
Guild writers have about half as many opportunities to succeed in traditional media (screenplays, tv writing) as we did three years ago. It’s far worse for people who aren’t in the guild and are knocking on the gates.
GREAT news for the writers who got hired. But there were only 1,819 TV jobs last season. 1,651 screenwriters working. Do the math.
Let’s talk, writer to writer. And I’m talking “Writing Writers.” This is for people who wrote something today or yesterday. Those of us whose lives don’t feel complete if we haven’t put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) for at least a half hour today.
The only reason to be a writer in the 21st century is because you can’t think of anything else that would make your life meaningful.
Which means that you are in constant pursuit of some way to make a sustainable living. Somehow.
THE BIG TURNAROUND
I spent most of 2025 creating an online course to help people write screenplays and pilots with the assistance of AI. I learned an enormous amount… but I also had to face a very uncomfortable truth: I’m leading people toward a closed gate.
And I went quiet here. I haven’t posted regularly since January. I’ve been writing, thinking… doing what we all do when we need to burrow into the nest and figure out the next step.
I was looking at a stark realization: The old world, the world I was lucky enough to make a living in during the 20th century, is DEAD. We need to build a new world.
That’s what I’m going to do here. I’ll be the guinea pig. Just one smart, hardworking writer using everything I can get my hands on to make a living.
I’ll share my failures and the occasional success. I’ll show you where I was smart and where I was stupid. I’ll introduce you to other writers who are pioneering a new way of making a living.
We’ll work on this together. I’ll rely on your comments, your feedback, your criticisms.
WHAT I’M MAKING - THE FIRST ATTEMPT
I’m writing a comic web series called “Autonomous.” As I’ll share in the next post, I began working on it in 2024, paused it while I created the (now abandoned) online course, and returned to it in February of 2026.
It follows the life of an American family in the 50s... the 2050s. Think “Malcolm in the Middle” meets “Black Mirror.” A writer using AI and AI filmmaking to create a series about how AI is going to make our lives a mess in 30 years.
I’m doing this because… well, because I’m a writer and I can’t help myself. Just like you.
I wrote a “pitch deck” to recruit filmmakers. I’ve got 14 of them who are interested. I’m using them as my sounding board as I move forward. (I’ll share what they have to say about this process.)
I’ll share the entire process -- from learning how to write 3-5 minute YouTube episodes, to recruiting a team of AI filmmakers, to monetizing the series.
You got an idea for me? Share it. Let’s see what we can build.
THE GOAL: 150K / YEAR
Yeah, there’s a real number attached to this. In order to survive in New York or LA right now, I think you need to earn about $150,000 a year, give or take. Tell me if you think I’m wrong, but let’s work with that.
I’m getting a bit of a late start this year — it’s Q2. So, starting at Zero. (Am I the only one who immediately distrusts a company that moves their fiscal year around? Not gonna do it.)
At some point, I’ll turn on a “paid” tier for this Substack.
I’ll launch a web series.
I’ll report regularly… as soon as I start earning. Got an idea? Let me know. It just has to involve WRITING.
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
That’s what I’m doing… now here’s what I’d like to ask of you:
Not only do I need you to subscribe and keep reading. I need you to share, talk, vote on polls, chat, interact.
This is the battle of a lifetime for us as writers. We need to share our strategies, our tools, our lives.
I need to know who is in the foxhole with me. I don’t want your resume; I want your reality.
In the comments or in this poll below, tell me: Which one of these are you today?
Script In a Drawer: I have a finished script/project that the ‘old world’ ignored, and I’m ready to haunt the new one.
Ready to Go: I’m starting from scratch and want to see how to use these tools without losing my soul.
The Skeptic: I’m here because I’m terrified, but I’m willing to look at the map.
Let’s get to work. The first dispatch from the Autonomous lab drops Thursday. I’ll take you through the process that got me from deep research into topic and audience to the first draft of ep 1.
See you in the Studio!
One passage stood out to me:
"The old world, the world I was lucky enough to make a living in during the 20th century, is DEAD. We need to build a new world."
I completely agree. And you build a new world with every tool you have.
On the subject of AI, I see a debate playing out that I think is fundamentally misguided. The question can no longer be: AI or no AI? It has to be: Is the work good? In the end, the audience decides. They don't care how something was made. They care whether it moves them.
Not everything produced with AI is automatically AI slop. Anyone who has ever seriously tried to create something worthwhile with AI knows: it is hard work.