Conversations From The Picket Lines: Television Writer And Producer Rasheed Newson

The Conversations From The Picket Lines series aims to spotlight the talented Hollywood screenwriters participating in the Writers Guild Of America strike.

Rasheed Newson is a television writer and producer who has worked in the industry for fifteen years. He met his writing partner, T.J. Brady, in a weekend writer’s group and the two began writing together when it became apparent, they possessed the same storytelling sensibilities. The pairing proved to be kismet when the two began writing and shooting short films together and eventually broke into television as staff writers. The pair has written for and produced several television shows like Army Wives, The 100, Narcos, and The Chi. They also served as co-executive producers and co-showrunners of the hit Peacock series, Bel-Air.

Newson’s debut novel, My Government Means To Kill Me, was released in Fall 2022 to rave reviews. It has also acquired accolades such as New York Times Notable Book, A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, and was a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Prize For Gay Fiction.

Writer’s Note: This interview was conducted in June 2023. 

GVN: What are some of the things you’ve seen during your time in the industry that has led to the current strike?

Well, it has been fifteen years, which makes [TJ and I] old enough to have seen the time before the rise of streaming. We started on a network procedural called Lie To Me. It was a mid-season pickup when we joined, and we were there for the second season too. [We] got a lot of experience and that all [unfolded] over a year and a half. We wrote three episodes and produced them and got a lot of experience. I was so broke that I came upon this great idea: I would come in early in the morning and get my breakfast with the crew. I’d then go to the writer’s room, where they would order lunch for us, and on that show we worked so many nights that they’d often order dinner for us. I was happy with my pay, and, I was almost just as happy to have a source of free food.

I mention that story to say that there was an assumption that staff writers were there to learn. [We] weren’t being paid a lot of money, and we weren’t being granted much authority, but we were receiving an education. We were encouraged to go down to the set and take note of how what was written on the page changed depending on what the actor was doing and learn the limits and demands of the set. It was my crash course not only in writing but producing television.

There was an assumption and expectation back then that the experience was not only vital for staff writers but owed to them. Of course, your bosses were going to send you to set or let you sit in on meetings to figure out how everything came together.

The next show we were on was Army Wives and that show had eighteen episodes a season, and we were allowed to keep our offices. TJ and I would come in during the summers and work on new projects. We’d also start working on the next season of the show. I would say at the beginning of my career with T.J. there was a belief that it was healthy for any show, and the industry itself, to let writers train each other on the job. I think that began to disappear, not only because of the streamers but because of the small season orders.

When you’ve got 22 episodes of a network drama, you need bodies [in that room] so when episodes blow up, and things fall apart, you can convene that room to put the pieces together fast. That’s less likely to happen when you have a shorter season. If things blow up, they leave it to the higher-tier writers to handle it.

I am confident that the WGA is going to prevail and that we’re going to get a contract that is going to satisfy our members. I also feel that coming out of this, the pressure to pinch every penny will continue. That stress will not go away once the strike is over. That environment is the one I think we’ll be walking into.

GVN: In your opinion, what are some of the ideal resolutions that will come out of this strike for the WGA?

I think we’ll get a better formula on residuals, but I’m not sure the networks will open their books and show us their numbers. I believe we will get room minimums. I think we’ll see an increase in salaries that addresses everyone’s concerns given inflation. I think the numbers in the [WGA] contract will look good, and everyone will be happy. It’s the day after the contract that I think things will get interesting. What studios are prone to do is figure out how to honor the contract by the thinnest margin possible.

So I think we’ll have a better residual formula; however, we’ll also see less shows left in the library when it comes to streaming. For example, if we right now have one hundred shows and they’re paying us two dollars a year, if they suddenly have to pay us four dollars a year [post strike], then we’d only see fifty shows kept in the streaming library. To some extent, they’re not going to pay more money than they want to pay for what we call residuals. I think that’ll become the next phase of this when we get that contract. They’re also not going to pay more than they’ve allotted for our talent, and we’ll be left to figure it out from there.

GVN: What are your thoughts on the studios utilizing A.I. and the possibility of it taking jobs from writers?

I’ve actually been a little surprised that A.I. has been such a sticking point for the studios because I don’t think it’s terribly hard to promise not to use something that doesn’t currently work. [They] could also ban using holograms for actors because that’s not something that would currently work for [them]. I think there will be some agreement [and language in the contract] that says the possibility of A.I. will be explored in consultation with the WGA.

The real fight will begin, no matter what the contract says, when it’s a viable thing. When someone creates something successful with it, then the fight is really going to be on. Once it’s viable and someone is utilizing it somewhere, the others will scream you’re denying them a competitive advantage. We have not reached that day yet, but I imagine that’s going to be when all hell breaks loose.

GVN: What are your thoughts on the support the WGA has received from its sisters’ unions like SAG-AFTRA?

I’m glad to see SAG-AFTRA joining in and we’ll see how those negotiations go. I think they’re hand will be stronger because the [WGA] is on strike.

I think historically the unions support each other whether it looks the way people want it to look or not. I think the DGA deal with always a draft that the WGA improves upon. Whether we start negotiations before them, or vice versa, that seems to be what happens. They reach a deal before we do, and we improve on that. I also think they get a stronger deal because the [WGA is always more likely to strike] before they do.

GVN: What is your advice to aspiring screenwriters hoping to enter this industry during these uncertain times?

Welcome to the circus. Uncertainty is not new in show business. I know it seems particularly fraught right now, but all of this uncertainty isn’t new. I think there is a lesson for not only new writers but all writers.

I now tell everyone to have something that you love, and you create, that’s just yours. It’ll give you something to go back to and reinvigorate you when things get hard. If [you’re] a comedy writer, also do stand-up because that’s material you can own and go out there and do. A drama writer can write a book, write a play, or a comic book. Again, you have something that you create that’s just yours. Let that happen.

I love working in television. I love working with T.J., I love working with the crew, I love the camaraderie, and I love the immediacy of writing something, and six weeks later it’s in front of an audience. I’ve come to feel that for my own well-being as a person and as a writer, I also need to be writing things I have complete control over critically and creatively. I wrote a novel called My Government Means To Kill Me. That’s something I had to write for myself and it was a very liberating experience.

I’ve seen a lot of people sacrifice their personal lives and their health in pursuit of getting a pilot greenlit or a feature made.  I think we need to adopt better work-life balance. It turns out no matter how much we bleed for these things, they can just disappear. Doesn’t that seem like a silly reason to have dashed a romance, or neglected some kids, or let your health fall apart?

I wouldn’t be terribly discouraged if I was a young writer about whatever storm clouds you’re seeing in [the entertainment industry]. Storm clouds come and go, but I would enter into all of this with a greater sense of self-protection.