Writer, producer, comedian, and creative extraordinaire, Brittani Nichols, took to Twitter to express frustration about how Hollywood treats its writers and she’s not exactly holding back.
Brittani, currently a writer on the hit show Abbott Elementary, began her lengthy Twitter thread by posting a chart that shows the percentage of writers who are working at the industry’s minimum wage for writers in relation to other occupations in the industry, such as story editors and producers.
While 31% of producers work at the industry’s agreed-upon minimum wage, per the MBA (aka the Minimum Bargaining Agreement of the Writer’s Guild of America), the lowest percentage belonged to co-executive producers; only 14% of them work at their agreed-upon minimum.
The two worst positions, or highest percentages, are staff writers, of which an incredible 98% work at the WGA minimum wage, and story editors, at 95%. The sad reality is that staff writers who get promoted become story editors, usually after one season.
A vast majority of the jobs pay fewer than 50% of the workers at that position’s minimum pay.
The numbers prompted the award-winning writer/producer to comment:
“Hello, friends. I’m a writer on Abnot Elementary and I want to talk a bit about this chart which shows how absolute dog sh** the industry has become for WGA writers and how these numbers impact writers of color.”
Nichols explains that staff writers often have to restart their careers, and many end up leaving the industry. She adds that this tends to happen more to people of color than anyone else, as the industry is willing to hire them, but not necessarily willing to promote them.
She also gave a personal example, explaining that she was a story editor on one show but was offered a staff writer position at her next job, and there were many times where she says she was forced to work non-WGA jobs just to survive.
Abbott Elementary, who presently employs Nichols, as she explained, treats the staff fairly and every staff writer has received a promotion to story editor for season 2. It’s worth noting that the successful show is often praised for its writing.
Nichols eventually ended the thread by stating, “I could go on and on but I’ll stop here. I know the issues facing writers are somewhat complicated, even to writers themselves.”
However, she has since responded to numerous people replying to her thread with further questions, happily helping anyone understand the industry further, including struggling writers in Hollywood.
This comes with just several weeks left in the current bargaining agreement, which is due to expire on May 1. So, Brittani’s present frustration may also be motivated by the opportunity to support better negotiations for writers.
Saturday Night Live is also undergoing re-negotiations with the staff threatening to strike on April 1.
In January, Abbott Elementary was renewed for a third season.
