Issue 6: TAG, DVD sets, pitches, and a short film!
Happy new year, friendos!
The year’s already off to a busy start, and we’d just like to know who’s responsible for this.
*puts finger to earpiece*
Okay, I’m hearing that we’re responsible for this, yeah, okay that makes sense. So!
(Timely update: Los Angeles is very on fire, but we are okay for now! We’re keeping an eye on the fire maps and are prepared to evacuate if the order is given. Check our Bluesky social media accounts for further updates on that.)
NEW STUFF
If you didn’t hear, TAG (The Animation Guild – the union that covers just about every craft involved in making animated shows and movies) ratified our new contract with the AMPTP, meaning there won’t be a strike and we’re all back to work.
Both of us voted in favor of ratifying the contract, even though it’s not perfect (none ever are, the AMPTP sees to that). It’s especially not great on the AI front, but it sees huge gains for writers and a lot of other crafts. And union negotiations are about building for the future. Each contract is only good for three years, so in 2027 the TAG negotiating team (who are heroes!) goes back to the table with the AMPTP and hammers out another new contract.
The gains we did get this time were huge, and will mean even better things in the future. And next time hopefully we can get more guardrails around AI to keep that stolen slop out of our work.
Speaking of our work, Monster High season 2 is getting a DVD release! Aaahhh we’re so excited! It includes all six episodes we wrote for the show, including the (legit award winning!) Monster Fest Halloween special! It releases on Feb. 18, and you can preorder it now for a whopping $13.39. And then you’ll have our names credited on physical media forever! What a bonus.
It’s probably the best way to let Mattel know you’d like more of the show, so get a copy for yourself, and your friends, and also for your enemies who might become your friends if you give them something so cool.
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
We actually (kind of) tried to (sort of) take some time off over the holidays, as mentioned in the Issue 5 annual wrap-up newsletter, so it’s the same stuff as before! We’re revising the comic dream project pitch for the editor that’s going to fight hard for it, and we’re writing up another comic pitch based on a pilot idea we’ve been working on for another comic editor, who requested it.
We’re also hoping we get more tv work this year, and hopefully finally also get staffed on a show (as opposed to just freelance episodes), but there’s little for us to do until our manager gets us some staffing meetings on shows. The problem is that very few shows are staffing, and the contraction and implosion of streaming plus the current trend of shortened seasons means that there are only so many shows hiring. On top of that, most shows are only hiring mid-level writers and above… which means people who’ve never been staffed before get shut out.
But if that continues, then there won’t be enough mid-level writers in a few years, because all the present mid-levels will have moved up. And further down the line you’re not gonna have any upper-level writers either! The industry’s kind of broken. Really hoping it gets unbroken much sooner than later.
We also mentioned in Issue 5 that we wrote a short film last year, and we have a producer attached who really wants to make it! We had our first production meeting right before the holidays, and we’ll be ramping up with the goal of shooting in April (we’re directing it)! We actually did our first location scout for it recently, which we’ll talk about in Process Stuff in the paid version of this very newsletter! Are you not enticed?!
TRANS TUESDAY UPDATE
Trans Tuesdays have been off since mid-December, but Tilly’s already written the first four for this year, and we recorded the podcast versions of those last weekend. Look for them to return later this month… hopefully on January 14!
Also! While the essay version of Trans Tuesdays now number well over two hundred, the podcast version will be hitting its 100th episode in a few weeks! Tilly’s doing an Ask Me Anything to celebrate! Questions about being trans, writing, trans rep in media, allegories… whatever! Literally ask her anything.
You can ask questions via email or BlueSky/Mastodon DM (if you send in an audio recording of your question, we might use it in the episode!), or you can ask anonymously at Tilly’s NGL link!
RECOMMENDATIONS
Check out The People’s Joker, an independent feature film parody of the Batman mythos (with a dash of Superman mythos thrown in). It’s wildly creative and weird and funny and also an incredibly personal look at one trans woman’s transition. It’s the kind of stuff we need a lot more of, but don’t get hardly any of because *gestures wildly at transphobic society*.
We also recommend the middle grade book The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon. Some people are very funny, and some of those people are also very talented writers. AND then some of those people go on to narrate their own funny and very well-written book, and truly, it is an embarrassment of riches. Of talent. You get it. Anyway, the audiobook version of Millicent Quibb is so good, it honestly feels unfair. It’s definitely worth a listen!
THE DIRTBAG DISPATCH
These two utter gremlins have destroyed our Yule tree! I mean, we adore them, but Henry’s always tried to chew on it and Izzy decided it was the best toy that the universe ever created. She’d routinely drop her own toys into the branches just so she could go fish them out, and she also chewed on the branches themselves.
We stopped them every time we saw it, but y’know we pesky humans need to sleep at night.
So when we took the tree down to store it for another year, we discovered they’d been chewing on the lights and had busted dozens of them! Augh. It’s not a huge deal, the tree was old and sort of breaking anyway, but we thought it might make it a while longer. Alas, the little goblins turned it into an electrical hazard, so out it went.
But New Year’s Eve did bring a small miracle…
The Dirtbag was not a fan of this development, as his face shows, so this lasted all of five minutes before they were punching each other in the face.
Good times! Izzy keeps trying to cuddle with him though and so far hasn’t given up. We don’t know if he’ll ever relent even though he wants to be near her in his heart, but we can hope.
Until then, at least Izzy is getting better at not putting up with his bullshit (it helps that she’s packing on weight like it’s going out of style, girl can eat).
WHAT’S IN THE BIG TIME?
This week in the Big Time version of this newsletter, our thoughts on going on our first-ever location scout! It’s for the short film we’re writing and directing, and it was a truly fascinating experience.
Also included is an exclusive commentary track for Monster High’s Monster Fest, part 3!
Sign up at birdguestbroadcast.com!
THE END
Heyyy we’re done! Which is good because we also wrote this newsletter while “on a break” and…
Damn we’re really bad at resting, aren’t we?
But thank you so much for supporting us and caring about the stories we tell.
It means the world to us. <3
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