In 2023, the Hollywood writers' strike became a rallying cry for TV and film writers. In a powerful show of unity, the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to launch their first strike in 15 years that shook the entertainment world to its core. They argued that the industry was stripping away their creative identity, reducing them to little more than content farmers. Two years since the strike, another writer has stepped to share their own experience of exploitation at the hands of studio executives, once again proving why the movement was needed. 

Roy Wood Jr., celebrated for his sharp wit on The Daily Show, has shed light on a quietly insidious Hollywood practice that leaves writers stuck in a system where they lose all creative rights to their own work.

Roy Wood Jr. recently took to X to tell a story from his early days in the industry. He explained how he pitched an idea to a studio, which agreed to pay him to write the movie. But after some time, the studio decided they did not want to move forward with the project. When Wood Jr. asked for the rights to his work back, the studio asked him to return the money they had already paid him. While this was a reasonable request by the studio, their conditions did not end there. 

The studio then demanded 4% of his original compensation, plus 4% of any back-end profits he might earn if he sold the idea elsewhere. And just when it seemed like the demands could not get more outrageous, the studio also requested $5,000 per episode if the idea ever became a show or spinoff—and royalties for any derivative works, even for characters that were not part of the original script. This was just one example of how Hollywood is alleged to keep writers on a short leash.

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Meanwhile, the UK Writers' Union is still pushing for reforms, years after celebrities like Millie Bobby Brown, according to them, exploited ghostwriters.

In 2023, Millie Bobby Brown made her debut as an author with the book Nineteen Steps. But Brown did not actually write the book herself. Instead, she hired a ghostwriter named Kathleen McGurl. This did not sit well with many fans, who were upset that Brown had not been transparent about using a ghostwriter. As a result, she faced a lot of backlash for not giving McGurl the credit she deserved, especially since the ghostwriter was not even mentioned on the cover, which left people with a misleading impression.

The UK Writers' Union has been pushing for more transparency in situations like this, calling for clearer credit to be given to the real authors behind ghostwritten works. Abbie Longstaff, who chairs the Society of Authors’ Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group, expressed her support for this cause, saying, “The real hand that spins the magic should be acknowledged and applauded.” While Brown is far from the first celebrity to release a ghostwritten book, this situation once again brought attention to the ways writers can be exploited in the industry.

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