
The Writers Revolt


In Hollywood, "packaging" has been a longstanding industry practice: An agency assembles a group of clients--such as a writer, an actor, and a director--and pitches them all together to a studio or network. Then, instead of collecting a commission from its individual clients, the agency gets a fee from the studio once the project is sold and airs.
David Simon, creator of The Wire, and thousands of other screenwriters with the Writers Guild of America, say that's killed any incentive for their agents to negotiate on their behalf, and think that the agents are grabbing more than their fair share of the profits. So, in April 2019, 7,000 writers all over the U.S. fired all of their agents, all on the same day.
Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram
Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and NPR One.
Get your fair share of Planet Money. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter