How the NYPD rolling up in Black communities these days (on my block): “Trump 2020. Put it on YouTube. Put it on Facebook...”
Aight MFers... it’s on TWITTER TOO! BI-DEN! 👋🏿😂
#Vote #nypdfinest #bidenharris2020
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Brandon K. Hines
@thumpio
TV Writer (Reef Break, Harlem, Fellow Travelers). Reps: Rain Mgmt & Gersh. Recovering Script Coordinator…
#BlackLivesMatter 
he/him
#BlackLivesMatter he/himWriterAtlanta, GAJoined April 2009
Brandon K. Hines’s posts
Just wrapped my first writers' room as a Staff Writer. Anyone have any burning questions about the process while it's still fresh?
11 years as Support Staff. Found out today yo boy’s starting as a Staff Writer next week. 😭😍🥳🤩🙌🏿
Won’t he do it!!
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I once worked so many 20+ hr days in a row that I didn’t make it home for a week. Production put us in a hotel near the office to take AM naps, and they had to buy us clothes and underwear lol. This was a network sitcom.
Why should anyone have to work like that?! #IASolidarity
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The 70th Precinct has history with terrorizing the Flatbush community. If you are a POC who has lived in the area for over a year... you probably have a story or two to tell. Also, speaking of history:
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There’s usually a cop in that spot all night (these days). I think someone got in trouble. 👀😏✊🏿
There has to be a way to make it in Film/TV without sacrificing EVERYTHING... life, love, family, health. This is Year 14 for me, and I'm EXHAUSTED, hunny. Friends I came up in this biz with, are leaving in droves.
There has to be a way to thrive and survive. 😓🙇🏿
Finished my first week as a TV writer and I still got my job! 😜🥳
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Guess this is my official moving announcement lol. I’m headed back home bc life as a working 🤚🏿 lower-level writer is unstable, ripe with abuse and racism. But don’t take this as I’m giving up. Just the opposite… ✊🏿😘✌🏿
See y’all on the picket in ATL!
This is what I be ranting about — I NEVER received a promotion after 11 years of SCing and two freelance scripts. Comparatively, EVERY one of my close white male peers (str8 & queer) were staffed years before. Even my past intern is running a show now… and I’m proud! But… wow🤷🏿♂️
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"Whereas 68% of white men and 56% of white women respondents who used to be assistants got their first TV writing gigs through promotion from that job, just 26% of BIPOC men and 20% of BIPOC women who are also ex-assistants successfully became scribes through that route." twitter.com/THR/status/152…
From personal experience: The black af dialogue in P-Valley wouldn’t make it past your avg studio exec. White execs be like 🤔😵💫… “we don’t get it.” But that’s why I love The Pynk even more. Y’all beat the fucking odds 💅🏿✊🏿
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1) Be myself. 2) Don’t pitch the same idea more than twice (if it was previously turned down by the Showrunner). 3) Try to form a complete story pitch and not just poke holes in someone else’s. 4) Don’t be an asshole. These are all fairly common sense, but some people… 🙄
Wild. 😳 Wrote a pilot, St. Marie’s, that’s listed in the 2021 Top 10 most downloaded scripts on Coverfly. Thanks for the love everyone!! 🥰🙏🏿
Writers are being super nonchalant about this IATSE strike on Monday like it doesn’t affect them. You do realize that some of you working in rooms won’t get paid when union accountants walk out?
Get involved. #IASolidarity.
🗣To Showrunners, EPs, leaders of Screenwriting Twitter:
Your projects (filming or in prep) might shutdown soon bc the AMPTP refuses to pay a #IALivingWage or provide #IAReasonableRest to its lowest paid crew members. Even if you don’t care, can you afford💰to remain silent 🤐?
Every time I have a general and an exec asks me what I’m currently watching, my mind instantly goes blank. Don’t be like me… write stuff down. 🤦🏿♂️😬😂
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Put multiple eggs in multiple baskets (but don’t strain yourself mentally). I was a Script Coord for 11 years before helped me get my big break. It’s a waiting game. Plant your seeds now (peer network, contests, working as support staff)… and wait. 🥴 #itsaprocess
It’s becoming a trend to NOT BE PAID ON TIME for Script Coordinators and Writers’ Assts during the pandemic… on non-livable wages. On two jobs this year I’ve gone without being paid 2-3 weeks. On the big four STUDIOS. On Black projects. 🥺😭🤐
#IALivingWage #IASolidarity
To the BIPOC writers who feel bad for announcing their FIRST staffing job... DON’T. We need to see you succeed.
CONGRATS!! 🤩🙌🏿
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Also #IAReasonableRest bc 3-4hrs of turnaround for any employee should be ILLEGAL. Especially when they’re bullied into it by superiors.
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Honestly? Probably chilled out a bit more before I started the room. My stress level at the start of the job was 🥴 vs now 😎. It just took a bit getting adjusted to working less (old Script Coord), but getting paid more. It’s funny folks have less expectations of Staff Writers.
Yep, at some point all the writers were on Zoom bc of omicron. Doors ARE opening for virtual (if not hybrid) rooms. They are cheap — no lunch, bills, etc. Also content is diversifying, so writers from non-coastal backgrounds (no LA or NY folks) are becoming more sought after. 🙌🏿
🙏🏿🥰✊🏿
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1) Find the DRAMA in the scene. 2) Don’t poke holes in others’ pitches. It just confuses people and slows the brainstorming process.
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Also thanks to my roommates for watching my dog. What if I had kids?! 😳
First connected me with my manager last month… now I have two Agent meetings scheduled for pitch week. At this rate, I’m gonna owe these people my first born. 👶🏾🤦🏿♂️😂 #CoverflyTakeover #Testimony
Was a nervous wreck at the start. That promotion had eluded me for almost a decade… so I put a lot of pressure on myself. Also, I was the only one zooming in (from NY)… so yeah, hot mess. But the room was super supportive, and I quickly found my footing. Now, I’m Gucci. 😎😜
I had more worries than expectations lol. I’ve seen some crazy shit in this biz. But, I was surprised by how supportive the other writers were from the get-go. The showrunner created a safe space, treated us all as equals, which allowed me to grow and pitch at my best. 🥰
Experienced Script Coordinators are trained writing assassins. Most with stronger writing skills than most newbie Staff Writers (got years of proof on this). It’s so 😤 when EPs don’t promote SCs, yet trust them to fix their work.
Make it make sense. 🤔🤦🏿♂️
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Absolutely wild that there are STILL showrunners out there saying they won’t even *consider* SCs for promotion or freelances because “It’s not a writing job.” Absolute horse shit.
We all need to start asking about this stuff early and setting expectations in the interview.
I’m seeing so much discussion about requiring a certain number of lower level writers in TV writers’ rooms bc of the new trend in hiring only ULs… AND I COULDN’T AGREE MORE.
However…
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Replying to @Coverfly
After being featured as a Coverfly endorsed writer, Brandon K. Hines received representation offers from five different management companies, signed at Rain Management, which lead to his first staff writer gig! 
More about Brandon's journey: coverfly.com/success-tracke
More about Brandon's journey: coverfly.com/success-trackeHelicopters everywhere, soca music blasting, cops on every corner...
It must be Labor Day in BK.
#WineItUp #WestIndianDayParade
What I’ve been writing on the past few months… can’t for you guys to see!! 🙌🏿
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Matt Bomer’s ‘Fellow Travelers’ Lands Series Order At Showtime deadline.com/2022/04/matt-b
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Research. My recent gig was a period limited series, based on a book. I read the book and resources my showrunner gave me in advance, and did research on the characters and history of that time/location. Granted, I did most of this bc I had a passion for the topic. Which helps!
Changing a script at the last minute not only affects the writers. It affects everyone on crew down to the PAs who now have to pull a 16-18hr day bc of your shenanigans. Big eyeroll 🙄😤
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If anyone wants to know where my anger comes from… try to channel a bit of empathy for a sec. Imagine not making a living wage for 11 years while working 80+ hr weeks (no help from parents, super humble beginnings). It’s an endless cycle of poverty… but please #NextChapter
I’ve taken out two projects this past year and change. I can say that pitching while poor is a specific level of hell. All those hrs of hard work, no pay, bills are adding up, and no guarantee of work.
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She lost her drugs tho 👀💀😂
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He asked us to post. So, we did. The power of social media. Thank you, everyone, for showing up on this one! ✊🏿
msn.com/en-us/news/us/
That line in Shang-Chi… “If you aim at nothing, you hit nothing” has stuck with me coming into the new year. This year is about being brave and owning how dope you are. Fuck it up, y’all! 😜✊🏿
#ToMyFellowWriters
1) I have to give the credit to . I placed in a couple competitions (WeScreenplay Diverse Voices, FD Big Break), which led to…
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Congratulations! Tell us your process! Did you query?
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I’ve been working in TV/Film for 14 yrs. 11 years as writers room support staff. It’s been a long crazy road. Crazy bc I was on the med school path before my TV career. If you told me in 2008 that I’d be a writer one day, I would’ve 👋🏿😂. I hated writing back then lol. 🤷🏿♂️
It’s triggering to see former bosses who left you hanging or made your life hell, now shout their support for IATSE. Where were you when I was going head to head with the SVP of Production over making minimum wage with 10 years experience.🥴 Sorry, see?!
Anyways…
#IASolidarity
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Ran my mouth last year and did something. 🤷🏿♂️✊🏿
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Check out the full story on Episode 2 of Spike Lee’s NYC Epicenters doc! #SpikeLeeJoint #NYCEpicenters
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Showrunners who agree to only fill their rooms with ULs are essentially scabbing the rank-and-file system that gave most their start in the first place. Showrunners, y’all have power too. Use that shit for good instead of $$.
BIG THIS. 👇🏿👇🏿 People hear TV writer and think ELITISM. Ain’t nothing elite about being a lower level writer and can’t pay rent. Poverty is a raggedy bitch, and I’m exhausted. 😩🥴
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Three upper level people I haven’t spoken to in a long time reached out recently to talk about WGA contract stuff and potential strike plans. I don’t have the heart to tell them that I can’t even begin to think about it because I’m already in so much debt I cant pay rent.
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Get it, Ms. Kermit! 🙌🏿
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The teaser poster for SHE HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW!
The series premieres August 17 on #DisneyPlus
Thread: "WGAE Trainee Program"
Hear me out (these are my personal opinions and experiences)...
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Tell people what you want to do when they ask. But also make sure you’re killing it at your Office PA duties to show how invested you are. I used to be an Office PA!
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I 💯 blame this biz for why I don’t have a man or kids yet. I CAN’T AFFORD EITHER! I’m barely getting by with one dog. 😅🥹🥺😭😡
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My mind is 🤯. Studios want to eliminate meal penalties and up the hours to qualify for healthcare… during a pandemic. The THUGGERY. 👀🤕
#IASolidarity t.co/EQ0zyNjCPG
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Staff Writing is significantly easier than Script Coordinating. I felt a lot of the time that less was expected of me in regards to technical knowledge… which is the opposite for SCing 😵💫🤦🏿♂️. So reorienting my brain to take a step back was super hard.
"Harlem" writer, Brandon K. Hines, who is LGBTQ+ and supports the WGA strike, believes that the guild's current demands for equity and opportunity do not go far enough for TV writers that have the least career mobility.
“Vote like your lives depend on it.” ...bc they do. 😐
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15 days. That’s all we’ve got. If you or someone you know is still deciding how or if you’re going to vote, I hope you’ll take a minute to watch and share my message. We’ve got to get everyone we know to vote for @JoeBiden in numbers that can’t be denied. iwillvote.com
If you’re a showrunner of color, it’s even more important for you to watch out for your underlings now. Especially if they look like u. I know some have PTSD from climbing that ladder, but watching support staff starve and/or being railroaded by big studio corps, JUST AIN’T IT.💔
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The responsibility isn’t on the guild or studios solely. It’s also on Showrunners. I like to think of it like this…
It’s been a rough year to say the least, and a decade of grinding in writers’ rooms to get here. I’m always counting my blessings, and making The Next List this year is another one. Cheers to this milestone and everyone on the list!
🥹🥰🍻
writers.coverfly.com/lists/the-next
Y’all see the bullshit, right? 🧐😒
Says every Line Producer to their Script Coordinators and Writers Assts…
#IALivingWage
This article is a mess. 👀✌🏿
Should read: “Paid for by unnamed industry sources at the AMPTP.” Show me a Script Coordinator who makes over $100k/yr. I’ll wait. 🙄🕰
#IASolidarity #IALivingWage
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IATSE President Matt Loeb Says Contract Negotiations Have Reached “Critical Juncture” As Others Make Case For A Fair Deal deadline.com/2021/09/iatse-
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Yes sir. Super nervous. But that first paycheck (after 11 years of starving wages) makes you wanna speak up lol. Just took a few weeks to get super comfy.
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gave me my start in TV/Film production. First gig was an internship on . That got me more work, and I eventually maneuvered to working full time in writers rooms (Showrunners Asst, Script Coord). Eventually that work plus my manager helped me staff.
$23.50/hr is NOT a livable wage. That’s disrespectful to the support staffers (the lowest paid) who started this movement! …And making them feel like they “won.” #Gaslighting101
The nerve.
I swear my friends didn’t believe me when I said I was struggling to put food on the table. I would go a day or 2 w/out eating last yr (even w/ recent writing credits). They loaned me $$ tho. 😅
It’s 😵💫 that we’ve gone from buying houses 5 yrs ago, to being on SNAP. 😪
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I realized today that one of many reasons I show up to picket everyday is food security. They have food for me, food I’ve come to rely on. So when us writers say we’re fighting for our lives, believe us.
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3) A ton of Manager meetings and generals over a few weeks. Literally feels like my career upgraded overnight… 🙏🏿
I’m not understanding the mixed critic response to Bel-Air. This show is dope. I mean, they had real life ALPHAS🤙🏿. I’ve done clearances… they don’t just let anyone rep the Divine Nine.
Literally… I’ve never been able to clear them. 😍🤷🏿♂️
Trying to break in as a TV writer is harder than getting into med school. Trust me. Ain’t no pipeline in the Writers Room. Just pure hustle for those of us not connected. 🤷🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️
Anyways, let me go sit my jaded ass down somewhere…
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Certain milestones need to be celebrated no matter how hard your year’s been… Let’s go 2023! 😍🙏🏿
It was a period show based on a book. Had to read the book and do a ton of (welcomed) research on the time period.
🗣Calling out to #PreWGA and #WGA! Join me and on Mon 8/9 @ 7P ET for our second Pathways to the WGAE series: "Hollywood Assistants Deserve Better: Behind #PayUpHollywood and #IALivingWage."
Panelists:
RSVP: wgaeast-org.zoom.us/webinar/regist
Race riots, War, police brutality, recession... 1940’s NYC feels a whole lot like 2020... just sayin’. 👀🤷🏿♂️
DM to read. 🤓📖
#WGADevelopmentBoost #WGAStaffingBoost #ForYourWGAConsideration
#DiverseStories
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ST. MARIE'S by Brandon K. Hines was one of the best scripts our readers read last week. blcklst.com/members/script #BlackListWeekendRead
Best mentor ever, right here!! 👇🏿🥰
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This is my @WGAEast mentee Brandon K Hines! His writing is pure, well-crafted and real...his vibe is lively, passionate and honest. With years of production experience, sold scripts, excellent samples and ideas out the wazoo, he'd be an asset to any room. HIRE HIM! @thumpio twitter.com/thumpio/status…
🗣 The cutthroat energy I’m showing up to the polls with— serving the people...DEMOCRATIC REALNESS.💅🏿
#VOTE #BidenHarris2020Landslide #DuckWalkToThePollsIfYouHaveTo
👏🏿💃🏾👯♂️🕺🏿
This warms my cold heart.
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Meet ChristianCooper, an avid birder who’s ready to take flight.
#ExtraordinaryBirder with Christian Cooper is streaming June 21 on #DisneyPlus and @Hulu.
🗣Calling out to #PreWGA and #WGA folks! Join me and on Tues 11/2 @ 7P ET for our third and final Pathways to the WGAE series: "Pathways to Staff Writer"
Panelists: Naomi G. Davis, Kathy Dobie, Brenson Thomas
RSVP: wgaeast-org.zoom.us/webinar/regist
Everyone’s looking to hire experienced Script Coordinators for minimum pay and no upward mobility, and SCs are out here looking back, like… 💀😂
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When I asked the UPM that question, they said Script Coords and Writers' Assts on the East Coast aren't union jobs. Therefore, as long as we are paid (I think the max overtime rate was 1.5x or 2x), we could work the hours.
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As much power as the Showrunner gives you. If youre pitching a big change, come prepared with a full story and answers to questions you know your SR will already have. If they can poke a hole in your pitch, or if it’s just not better than what’s on the table, then don’t pitch yet
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Check out the full story on Episode 2 of Spike Lee’s NYC Epicenters doc! #SpikeLeeJoint #NYCEpicenters
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And don’t get me wrong. Pitching CAN be a fun experience! Just not under the pressure of financial ruin. Know what I mean? 🤔😪
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Started off as an Office PA. Then became a Showrunner’s Asst. That helped me learn how writers’ rooms function.
It’s going down tonight! Check us out! 🧐🤩👇🏿👇🏿
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Tonight, Nov 2, 7pm
Pathways to Staff Writer: A WGAE Panel
(via Zoom)
@LisaCullen, @thumpio, @A_Mad_Vision, @kat_dobie. & @brenthomas112 discuss how to make the leap from being an assistant, journalist, playwright, etc to a TV writers’ rooms.
wgaeast-org.zoom.us/webinar/regist
As a Black queer writer, I struggle with telling my own stories. A subconscious and rational fear that they wouldn’t even be given a chance. Case in point, this series premiered May 31st. TF?! 👀🥴
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The CW has canceled 'Tom Swift,' the 'Nancy Drew' spin-off starring Tian Richards as network TV's first gay Black lead, after only 5 episodes. ew.com/tv/the-cw-canc
Or make healthcare free for all like most developed nations… just a thought. 🤷🏿♂️
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…and I’m aware some of y’all make millions, so the answer is probably, yes lol. I’ll just pray that seeing your workers being treated inhumanly does the trick.
In 2020, I (gratefully) landed in a writers’ room full of talented/smart/beautiful BLACK WOMEN. In this biz, they are unicorns, hunny. I was honored. Anyways — that, plus the timing of this p/u, got me all in my #BlackHistoryMonth feels. 🥰🙅🏿♂️
