John and Craig welcome back Liz Alper (Day of the Dead, The Rookie) and Brittani Nichols (Abbott Elementary, A Black Lady Sketch Show) to discuss how much progress has been made on issues from #MeToo, #PayUpHollywood, and depictions of police on screen. We look at common threads between the movements, and the difficulty of maintaining momentum once the initial impetus has passed.

We also answer listener questions on how to deal with ethically complicated projects and why there’s still so much copaganda on television.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John tells Craig a real life fairy tale about ‘The Writer Who Left his Reps.’ It’s magical and full of hope.

Links:

• Liz Alper on Twitter
• Brittani Nichols on Twitter
• Buy Tickets for our first Live Show post-pandemic – Dynasty Typewriter Livestream October 19 at 7:30pm PT
• Are you going to Austin Film Festival? Submit to the AFF Three Page Challenge!
• List of Female Run Restaurants in Austin, TX from Melissa
• Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades by Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey and Alyssa Milano’s Tweet and From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker
• #MeToo, Five Years Later: Accusers Reflect by THR Staff
• #MeToo, Five Years Later: No One’s Fully Returned From “Cancellation” by Gary Baum for THR
• Check out the new survey results at the brand new #PAYUPHOLLYWOOD website
• Read the full update from ‘Christian’
• How 70 Years of Cop Shows Taught Us to Valorize the Police by Constance Grady for Vox
• Studio Response to Showrunners for Abortion Rights
• The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books by Leslie Jamison for The New Yorker
• Why Your Hate Your Job by Aravind “Vinny” Byju
• Follow journalist Cerise Castle on Twitter
• Checkout Tallowtalk soaps on Etsy!
• Support the Writer Emergency Pack XL Campaign on Kickstarter
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John August on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Holly Overton (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.