# of Episodes, Minimum # of writers in writers’ room
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6 or fewer, 3
7-12, 5
13+, 6
Minimum number of writers? Ok, go ahead and tell me that union labor isn't about padding payrolls.
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6 or fewer, 3
7-12, 5
13+, 6
Minimum number of writers? Ok, go ahead and tell me that union labor isn't about padding payrolls.
That doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I mean, one person could probably come up with six scripts given enough time, but having input from other writers is likely to be very helpful. Even if you thought collaboration had no value whatsoever, having 3 people each working on a script at once means your entire 6 episode season gets done that much faster. Plus you figure life happens and people get sick, need days off, etc. Having more than one body in the writer's room still seems like a good idea.
It isn't just the production that would suffer if the writer is overworked. The writer is the person under pressure to deliver the script on time. Worse, the output would suffer because one stressed out person, who doesn't have the time needed to do the job properly, isn't going to be doing their best work. It's the writer's name that ends up in the credits of whatever gets produced and the quality of the work determines their future employment.
Writing a script is more involved than it seems, and when push comes to shove I think enforcement of hours/day per script writers is not so great. And you can't come with all ideas by yourself