This time last year, Hollywood writers were picketing outside the offices of major studios and streaming companies. Throughout their nearly five month-long strike, writers often convened at Bob’s Big Boy, where TV host Drew Carey often picked up the check. “I remember eating a lot of hash browns, and then if it was dinner, they’ve got a good soup situation,” says Taylor Orci, who recently returned to the Burbank diner to reminisce with writer Bill Wolkoff.
“It saved us,” Wolkoff nods. “It was a vote of confidence that ‘I believe in writers.’ Thank you, Drew Carey, for that.
” Wolkoff writes and produces the series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Last year, when the show took a pause, he was a Writers Guild of America strike captain outside CBS Studios in L.A.
Thanks to the union’s new contract, he’s looking forward to getting higher streaming residuals with each hit season. “That’s going to be a noticeable difference in my life,” Wolkoff says. “And the AI protections too.
I mean, we got in our contract language that ensures that AI will not replace writers. That’s huge.” But, he admits, he’s one of the lucky few Hollywood writers still working these days.
Like many others, Taylor Orci still struggles. One writing job fell through recently, and they’re still living on loans, with max’d out credit cards and a baby on the way. “I knew it was gonna be slow, but I thought I’d have a job,” they say.
“It’s tough right now to find wo.