September/October - Margaret's Nearly Monthly News
So... September got away from me, and since October isn't looking any less eventful, I'm going to see if I can get this update out before there's even more to include!
From my Desk
Not on strike! Whoo hoo! The membership of the WGA overwhelmingly approved the tentative agreement reached with the AMPTP after a 148 day strike. The WGA has released a summary of the major deal points and this helpful chart showing the Guild's initial proposals, where things stood when the strike began in May, and where both sides ended up.
The tl:dr? All the demands the studios claimed were non-starters? They moved on every single one.
If you're looking for a more vibes-based summary: the WGA video "148 Days Stronger" does a good job capturing the energy of the summer.
And of course Hollywood's Hot Labor Summer isn't over yet. While I'm sure SAG-AFTRA will win an equally ground-breaking deal for their own members, it looks like it won't be coming as quickly as we all hoped. The Entertainment Community Fund and many other organizations are still supporting entertainment workers, striking and not.
Non-Strike News!
But for once, the strike isn't the only thing I have to report! By weird coincidence, three of the shows I've been writing for since 2020 all dropped new episodes in the last few weeks.
(These projects happen to be geared for kids, which is a change up if you mostly know me from my short fiction. But hey, next time someone tells you to pick a genre and stick to it... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
First up, Barbie: A Touch of Magic, on Netflix. Check out the teaser on YouTube! I wrote Episode 3: "Barbie You Can Drive my Car" and Episode 5: "Peggy-napped." I know I'm biased, but honestly, this whole series turned out really well.
Also on Netflix, Music Time is a music education and sing-along show for preschoolers. I wrote a bunch of seven-minute episodes for the first season, which Netflix has bundled into batches of three. If you have preschoolers, you may end up watching all of them, but if you're just curious about what I've been up to, "ABCD-Little Star," (part 3 of episode 2), might be my favorite. Trailer here!
Lastly, if you're in the UK, Octonauts: Above and Beyond Season 3 is running now on the BBC (CBeebeies). According to the Internet, the season has already been released in China and South Korea. No word yet on a US premiere, but if it's airing where you are, let me know? And keep an eye out for "The Octonauts and the Sea Turtle's Shell."
What I'm Reading and Watching
A week ago, I shopped my TBR pile for something to read, and now I'm 400 pages into Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Apparently Barak Obama put it on his summer reading list when it came out in 2009, so I'm probably the last one left who hasn't read it, but for anyone impatiently waiting on my endorsement: it's keenly observed, immersive, and the prose flows like water. I'm really enjoying it.
As far as what I'm watching? I confess, the last few months I've been using YouTube to combat stress-related doom-scrolling. If you're in need of a distraction too, here are a few of the independent creators the algorithm has sent me:
Jessica Steinrock (@intimacycoordinator) is (you'll never guess) an intimacy coordinator for film and television. She's dedicated to keeping spicy sets safe and healthy for everyone involved, and spreading the word about intimacy coordination as a profession. Even (or especially?) as someone who works in the industry, her videos are enlightening and hilarious.
Karen Puzzles (@KarenPuzzles) does jigsaw puzzles. I met her in person through mutual friends a month or so back, and her channel has introduced me to a whole world of jigsaw-related content I could not heretofore have imagined. She recently returned from the World Jigsaw Championships in Spain, and I'm eagerly awaiting the recaps.
Uyen Ninh (@uyenninh) is a Vietnamese grad student living in Germany with her camera-shy German Fiancé. She makes short form comedy about cross-cultural dating, embracing the socks-with-sandals lifestyle, and the eternal quest to find good Vietnamese food abroad.
Nate Petroski (@narrowayhomestead) lives off-grid in West Virginia. He has an outdoor kitchen, a robot lawnmower, beard-care and coffee businesses, and a dog named Minion who lives to "go places, do things."
From the Cutting Room Floor of the Duolingo Dystopia
Because I guess picketing wasn't enough exercise, I've taken up swimming. Bea refuses to come with me.
And that's the Nearly Monthly News!
Whether it's fall or spring in your hemisphere, these are months of transitions. I hope all of yours are good ones and that you and yours are safe and well. Questions? Comments? Drop me a line. Otherwise, I'll see you next month!