Meet the Negotiating Committee: Adam Conover
Bio: Adam Conover is a writer, comedian, and television host. He created the truTV series Adam Ruins Everything, and the Netflix series The G Word. He serves on the Writers Guild of America West Board of Directors.
What prompted you to join the Negotiating Committee?
I felt it was important to have writers who’ve worked in comedy/variety on the Negotiating Committee, as we have serious issues in comedy/variety that must be addressed this cycle. On a personal level, I’m deeply interested in learning how workers organizing can propel social change, and being on the Negotiating Committee was a front-row seat to that process! Finally, it’s just an honor and a thrill to be able to serve fellow writers and our union.
Tell us about a time when you have felt a strong feeling of solidarity with your fellow writers.
The agency campaign was a galvanizing moment for me. The fact that just 10,000 writers, standing together, were able to force four massive companies to divest themselves of their production arms and make material changes to their businesses was nothing short of incredible. We moved mountains together, and we will do it again.
What makes the 2023 contract cycle different from past ones that you have witnessed or in which you have participated?
This is the first negotiation in years in which our main issues are ones of compensation and working conditions. This means a new set of challenges—we’ll have to stand up for each others' issues, with screenwriters standing up for comedy/variety writers and narrative TV writers standing up for screenwriters. But in my experience in the Guild, I’ve seen us have each others’ backs and wins gains time and time again, and I have every confidence that we will do it again.