www.wheresyoured.at/the-subprime...

bsky.app/profile/dong...

Congrats! This is literally and figuratively HUGE!

If @bencollins.bsky.social and @timheidecker.bsky.social let me write and make things for the new Infowars I will *checks notes* finally be happy, no pressure guys lmk k????

this happens a lot when you fear you can’t live up to your own tastes

but nothing ever will on the first draft

let it suck! it’s fine

“writing is rewriting” is the truest aphorism

revisions are where you make it sing

all the first draft has to do is exist

trust the process!

I'm catching her just before she goes! LET'S TEXT

Ah boo! I’m sorry! If it helps, I’m sure a bad Guardian review isn’t going to sink it - it might do good numbers?! Who even knows any more

UGHHHHHH.

(Also are you around next week? I’ll be in London! Catch up / commiserate with me?)

Let’s do this Ben

Been reading your thoughts on this with interest over the last couple of weeks - it’s a bit nerve wracking given I’m developing an indie creative project at the moment that leans into this apparently-dying trend! Would love to pick your brains on a Zoom if you have the time Ryan - DM me if you do!

Today in “are all my attempts to find work this year cursed”: I asked my manager to send my animated cat comedy script to Amazon, and then ten minutes later a friend sends me this.

My show is VERY different in premise and tone, but… yeah. They ain’t buying another for a decade are they

The Pitt’s got nothing on you and your mom! I’m sorry you’re having to go through this - hope you’ll be out soon

Also Luke, please, you do not need to describe your own laugh as “extremely loud” to me of all people

It’s SUCH A WEIRD GROSS THING

I pulled up a BBC article about how homicides are at a ten year low and that helped, haha

You can’t stop someone from being racist in one conversation, sadly, but I swear to god: the thing that stopped this person in her tracks, made her go quiet and - just slightly, for now - begin to rethink the narrative she’s been fed about immigrants was finding out that these companies pay no tax.

At Least 88 Profitable U.S. Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025 At least 88 of the largest corporations in America paid $0 in federal income tax for 2025. Corporate tax avoidance has increased at least in part due to President Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” ...

Accidentally ended up in a scattershot conversation with a friendly but deeply Fox-pilled and anti-Muslim woman, and - other than showing her headlines disproving the Republican narrative about Sadiq Khan’s London (being British helped) -

- the NUMBER ONE thing that struck a chord was this. 👇

Anthropic Settlement Update: 91.3 Percent of Books Claimed in Settlement - The Authors Guild Yesterday, class counsel in the Bartz v. Anthropic lawsuit filed papers apprising the court that 440,490 of the 482,460 eligible works had been claimed—a remarkable 91.3 percent rate (the typical clas...

New on the Anthropic settlement from the @authorsguild.org : over 91% (!!) of eligible books were claimed as of the claims deadline (I would not have predicted such a high number!)

Looks like the payout will be close to the $3000 originally estimated authorsguild.org/news/anthrop...

Off the back of this point: a friend of mine happens to run a fiction podcast with a huge, active fanbase.

After speaking to the exec who told me to bring him something with a following, I texted my friend to see if they’d been in TV development before.

I had a hunch what the answer would be. 👇

Thank you friendo! Helps to talk about, I hope

Yeah, I was gutted honestly

People assume creative execs are the problem, but FWIW: they rarely have been in my experience.

Almost all the studio execs I have worked with are good people who got into this business because they love stories and want to be a part of making them.

It’s not them. It’s who they work for.

We go on… 🫠

Did a tangential little thread here on a related subject:

I DIDN’T BRING THE BOOK TO *THEM*

*THEY* BOUGHT THE RIGHTS TO THE BOOK AND *THEN* I PITCHED FOR THE JOB

*THEY* WERE THE ONES WHO WANTED TO DEVELOP IT IN THE FIRST PLACE

🫠

Oh *believe me*, I’m right there with you…

A couple of years ago I was developing an absolute DREAM project for a streamer, based on a book that meant a lot to me.

When we were told it wasn’t moving forward, the reason given was that the book didn’t have enough sales and wasn’t a big enough IP.

Wanna know the absurd punchline?

In that kind of an environment, how are you meant to stand up for projects you believe in? Why *would* you stick your neck out? Risk losing your job for backing the wrong horse?

Two people at a particular studio (only one of them still works there) separately told me that the execs joke about all having barcodes on the back of their necks that tell them when they’re going to get fired.

As for why his show didn’t survive development… I mean, I don’t know the ins and outs of his situation or how he worked.

But I do know why a lot of shows don’t survive development: at some of the big streaming companies, mandates change with the wind. “Reorgs” happen. Staff get let go.

Honestly, I can’t speak to that. Maybe I should be more cynical about their motives, but I tend to think it’s usually incompetence rather than intention. Creative execs usually want to get things made somehow. It’s just that mandates change with the wind.