Thread by @moryan

THREAD. For some time, I’ve been speaking to people from the drama All Rise, which is made by Warner Bros & aired by CBS. I ultimately spoke with 30 people, 18 of whom worked directly with EP/showrunner Greg Spottiswood.

Spottiswood was fired as showrunner of All Rise March 24, not long after Warner Bros learned I was working on this story. This @salon piece on Spottiswood’s alleged conduct, his firing & much more, represents several months of work. I hope you’ll read it: salon.com/2021/05/12/he-…

I’ve done many similar stories. This is the longest one yet. Here's why: What occurred at All Rise may help illuminate things. The industry as a whole still has a long way to go when it comes to inclusion, treatment of women, matters of culture, race, respect & professionalism.

Things to keep in mind: All Rise is one of the rare TV dramas with a Black female lead. Majority of series regulars are people of color. 75% of original writers’ room roster = POC. That entire original roster of the writers’ room is gone. There were more departures beyond that.

In the course of reporting this story, I learned of a comment Spottiswood allegedly said on a Zoom call with staff in Nov2020. I don’t know even how to characterize the comment without appearing insensitive. I’ll use reaction words sources used: “horrified, shocked and appalled.”

Spottiswood’s alleged comment was directed at Black people. And personally I think it’s best to read the entire story to get the full context of the alleged remark, and how sources felt about what transpired in the moment and later. salon.com/2021/05/12/he-…

I want to thank everyone who contributed to the story (many Bothans etc.) A lot of people gave me a lot of their time and worked hard to get this piece to you, and I appreciate all of them. Special thanks to @eekshecried & @salon. And now, I pivot to a bigger (very related) issue

Earlier today, @LizAlps & @HardHeartdHanna published an op-ed in @THR hollywoodreporter.com/business/busin… It's a great, necessary essay and you should read it and print it out & post it on every street corner within 10 miles of a media company or set.

It asks: In Hollywood, is the press the new HR? To be clear, I don’t think the authors of that essay say that the press should be HR--quite the opposite! They are very much not saying that. However.

I think the default position in some quarters is, “Yeah, that person’s terrible, we’ll have to wait for the media to get hold of it.”

LOUD for the people in the back: The answer to that question -- should the media act as de facto HR -- is a big old Nope. For a lot of reasons.

Friends--speaking generally--most of the time, even when reporters know about Bad Stuff or Bad People, we either can’t take it on (there are just too many of these stories) or nobody can publish it (shocking news flash: publications & reporters *really like* not being sued!)

Counting on the media to be Hollywood’s HR, it just won't work. Many reporters & publications have done great work in this arena, and as a fellow veteran of these trenches, I raise my glass to everyone who has done this work. And still does it. But here’s an analogy:

Let’s say you have a yard, and in that yard is a tree you want removed. Hoping that the media will be the industry’s HR is like counting on a lightning strike to take down that tree.

That’s a one-in-a-million event. That’s not a system.

And I’ve been saying this for a while (here’s a piece from 2018 hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hol…). Sure, it’s good if individuals change — or are curbed when they don’t & inflict damage. But **systems and institutions** are what drive lasting change & make it sturdy & not a random fluke.

Whether or not you like my stories about these topics, or the ones done by other reporters, just understand:

These stories are lightning strikes. They are hard to do on a billion levels. It's a miracle these stories exist (& they are 1 sign of how desperate folks often are).

Contrary to some currently circulating rumors, I’m a human being. I’m not just fine with my track record on covering the good & bad of this industry--I’m proud of it.

But I’m not a system.

Batman is not the solution to Gotham’s problems. Batman is a symbol of the fact that the systems and institutions of Gotham have failed its people.

[YES FINE Batman has a cool car & cool lair. My lair is only 64% as cool.]

Here’s another general statement that applies to no particular entitiy: I’ve sometimes gotten the impression certain large companies were waiting for the media to make inquiries about a person so that they could bounce that person. Just a theory, probably (definitely!!) wrong!

If that were the case (and it’s surely not!), that’s also not a system. That’s… SIGH. Folks, can I write about kittens? Huge feature about Ted Lasso adopting kittens? I would like to do that! I love writing about shows that are Doing Cool Shit. Dear Industry: Help Me Help You!

There have to be a robust, reliable institutions/systems/channels that work the majority of the time. This issue is addressed multiple sources within the piece. More exciting stuff: I write a bit about living inside Depressing Groundhog Day. I'm really selling this piece well.

For now, Ryan out. Thanks, as always, for listening. Here is a cute baby fox, you might need one.

I do enjoy people having, uh, interesting reactions, to me comparing myself to Batman. It was an analogy?? Metaphor? But, OK, fine, I'll stipulate I'm more a Squirrel Girl type.

Nothing about how Hollywood functions, or doesn’t, is inevitable. It’s convenient for some folks to promote the idea “this is how it has to be.” Not true. The state of the industry is the result of *choices.* It’s possible for people/entities with power to make different choices.