Silicon Valley thinks writers' rooms are inefficient, he says

Tech companies are destroying the American tradition of comedy writers’ rooms, Jon Stewart has said.

The comic believes streamers such as Apple and Amazon believe the old system is inefficient, and don’t see the value in getting people together to share their experiences.

He said: ‘They go, "Writers’ room? Wait, you’ve got 14 writers, and they’re with you from start to finish on the production?"’

Explaining how he would react to that, he told  the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast: ‘Well, it’s important for the writers to be invested and also we’re showing them how they’re on the page because it’s different about the page to the screen. They’ve got to understand how that works…’

‘Amazon and Apple hear those arguments and respond with something like, "They can have three weeks, and it’s gotta be on Zoom. And you can have four of them."’

Stewart added: ‘I can’t function like that.’

He argued the tech giants ‘don’t believe in institutional knowledge that allows people to grow and get better and create more’ – instead creating ‘ruthlessly efficient content factories where what matters is the real estate and not the individual creative’.

O’Brien agreed, saying: ‘I’m friends with so, so many comedy writers. Many comedy writers of my vintage or younger have trouble getting work now. It’s changing radically.’

Their conversation has not yet been broadcast, but was reported on by Cracked, based on the above, unlisted, video.

Stewart had a talks show on Apple TV+ last year, but soon parted ways with the streamer over reported creative difference.

However he did acknowledge the financial efficiency of the streaming world, adding: ‘Silicon Valley walked in [to entertainment], in the way that Elon Musk walked into Twitter and went, "How many people work here? 10,000? Make it two."’

Published: 28 Sep 2024