Alright everyone I am here with Cobra Kai co-creator Josh Heald. Josh, it is amazing to have you here.
We're here at the writers strike
We're here in front of the Fox studios
And I was wondering if you could kind of give your perspective on the strike
What this means for TV shows that we love like Cobra Kai and what it means for the Cobra Kai show
We kind of all knew this strike was coming for a while
It felt you know, the drumbeat was there that this was a generational
Strike that needed to happen. It was a generational negotiation. I should say like the strike felt
inevitable and now we're here and it was I guess because
What needs to happen is
the contracts that the writers get need to kind of match the work that's being done the the contracts that exist the
template for how writers are employed and treated is
Something that might be familiar if you're making you know, three's company back in 1981, but doesn't really make sense if you're writing a
six episode, you know limited series for Netflix in 2023.
So, you know, the Writers Guild is really just after a fair contract that acknowledges how
episodes are made, how long it takes to make them, how writers are compensated, and how writers can make a career out of it.
And so it doesn't turn into a job to job gig that people aren't sure if they get stay in the profession.
So it's it's necessary. I hope the two sides can
Experience some movement both, you know in a positive direction and get back to the table and end it
So as far as writing in the Cobra Kai series how integral are writers to to the show itself?
I I know a lot of people think oh you kind of made me write ahead of time and and then you go shoot it
Like what? What is that process like for Cobra Kai? We're writing constantly on Cobra Kai
I mean we you know
We have an initial script that you know
Either we will write or somebody in our writers room will write that strip goes through multiple multiple multiple drafts
before production, during pre-production, then you give an episode while you're making an episode and you're rehearsing and you're seeing things on the day
You might change something significantly that not only changed something for that scene
But will change something and have a ripple effect through other scripts
So it's crucial, crucial for a highly serialized show like ours to have writers not just in a writers room period but
through production to be able to track these changes, pitch fixes
Sometimes you're you know, you lose a location you have an actor who gets sick who can't be part of the show anymore
And the show needs to still continue on and make sense and about a writer there you you know
Really are just beholden to this script that no longer matches the situation
so I mean that that's kind of what the reality of making a serialized show is now versus
Making a traditional broadcast sitcom where it was more here are three sets
here are five actors, here is the situation of the week,
and your final script might have joke changes,
dialogue changes, but not massive changes
that carry over into the next episode.
It's kind of like you're writing an ongoing movie
that is happening in real time.
So the writing is and has always been a crucial element.
- Now people have talked about AI.
It's exploded over the past six months.
How much of a threat do you think that is
to the profession of writing.
- I see AI as a interesting tool
that both the writers can use, the studios can use,
but it's a tool.
It's something that can be suggested.
It's something that might suggest a marketing, you know,
plan for, you know, how to launch a season.
It's something that might suggest a storyline
or an idea or a genesis of something to,
yeah, to look at AI and say,
This is how we are going to tell stories.
Really doesn't make any kind of sense.
You know, I'll use one of my own movies, an example.
- A "Hot Tub Time Machine."
- I don't think AI would necessarily just come up
with "Hot Tub Time Machine."
I think if you asked AI now
to write a Josh Heald-style feature film,
it would take elements of that
because AI has to pull from somewhere.
But unless people want just derivative material
that is regurgitated type of content
based on everything that's come before
and nothing absolutely brand new,
then I would say you need writers.
You need the genesis of an original idea.
Not only the AI is showing an original idea,
I think it's showing the ability to mimic
what is out there based on that material that's available.
And it's always more beautiful to bring something to life
than to create something in the lab.
- Absolutely, now we know that season six is coming
and there may be a bit of a wait.
What would you say to fans
as far as like maybe a tease for season six?
- It's gonna be big, it's gonna be great.
There's gonna be a lot of karate,
it's gonna be a lot of kicking and punching.
All the things you love.
I mean, anything you love about "Gilbert Guys"
is going to be in season six.
Any storyline you're hoping to see resolved
will most likely be resolved in a way
that is satisfying and thrilling,
and there's gonna be a lot more surprises
to come along the way as well.
The first season was our most important season
in terms of recreating the Karate Kid universe,
creating the language of what the Cobra Kai universe is.
The last season for any given series is equally important.
You have to bring this large jumbo jet in for a landing
that there's other landings to look at
in terms of how shows end and how they go out.
This one has to make sense for this universe,
but it also has to be original as well.
And it's going to be a really fun experience making it.
It's gonna be an even more fun experience
watching it with everybody when it comes out.
And I just can't wait to get out of this strike
and have a fair deal so we can get back
to the writer's room and keep writing it.
- That's wonderful.
Well, thank you, Josh, so much for joining me today
On the picket lines in front of Fox Studios,
we hope that an agreement can be reached
as soon as possible.
- Thanks, guys.
Drive hard.
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