Van Ward

☻ They/Them ☻ TV Writer - @Roku, @Netflix, @freeformtv - #WGA - @Sundanceorg Fellow - Insta: vanxward

[Van Ward @vanxward]

In the past couple weeks I've had an influx of individuals reach out to ask me about how I got my start writing TV! I've already been told by other friends that my advice/journey has been helpful to others about how to break in, so I thought I'd share my journey! 1/...

[syd 🦇🥀🎃 @sydragosa]

Goldshire Inn has been replaced with the covid conscious lesbian bar

[maggie 💌 @cinderellini]

streets are saying this is what turned texas blue

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

WOW. I guess Karen Bass is lucky the stream for the debate cut out last night:

"Her flop of a debate performance left her sounding like someone with no vision or kindness -- career suicide for someone who has made her reputation on both traits."

[Lee Hepner @LeeHepner]

No one - not a single person - created an Instagram account with the expectation that their photos would be used to generate AI advertisements.

If users had to proactively opt in to this, no one would. Instead, Meta doesn’t even notify you it’s happening.

[Americana at Brand Memes @americanamemes]

LA Live talking to Hollywood / Highland:

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.

It was their final, most essential command.”

- George Orwell, 1984

[John Bourscheid 🇺🇸 🚀 @bourscheid]

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

- George Orwell, 1984

[Americana at Brand Memes @americanamemes]

People in LA hearing the wind we were not warned about:

[Chris Murphy @christress]

RIP to the victims at Brown, to the victims at Bondi Beach, and to Rob Reiner and to Michelle Reiner. Suffice it to say there is a serious global problem with young men that seems to be rapidly escalating that we dont have the means to address

[Van Ward @vanxward]

Netflix actually was developing a black led horror show set in a similar time period of Welcome to Derry and never picked it up so you right girl!!

[myo 🧸 @cinnomng1rl]

it’s over black people we had a good run

[Van Ward @vanxward]

@lil_wodie @SooRayRay @cinnomng1rl Did you finish college*?

[Wetterschneider @Stretchedwiener]

Netflix is phrasing it like it's a done deal - but confirmation/approval doesn't happen until end of 2026 or early 2027.

This is called "manufacturing consent". They want to avoid giving people a chance to process this, and they're pushing a narrative that everything is fine and it's already done. It is not.

My knee jerk reaction is that this is a "bad thing". My deeper thought is that it's worse than we can imagine.

[Van Ward @vanxward]

@creetureshow I started to see this shift after we fired our agents... I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever recover from that, but it seems almost like tactical revenge 😶‍🌫️

[Mark Duplass @MarkDuplass]

For those of you who have responded negatively to this initiative, thank you for confirming the need to support the voices of those who merely wish to exist without discrimination. I'll see you at the movies!

[Star Wars Holocron @sw_holocron]

ANDOR writer Dan Gilroy has released a statement critiquing the Trump administration and commenting on the parallels between the show and Disney’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.

“As one of the writers on the Disney+ drama Andor, we spent six years thinking about a fascist takeover of a galaxy far, far away. Six years thinking about ordinary beings as an authoritarian regime comes in for the kill. Many people saw parallels between Andor and the real world. I see them as well, particularly in the events of the last week.

Donald Trump’s tools of governance, coercion and intimidation, have found focus on Hollywood. Faced with a social media firestorm, fear, and an FCC head threatening “they can do this the easy way or hard way,” Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel for speaking his mind. I deeply disagree but acknowledge it was a difficult decision. If you believe otherwise, wait until fate knocks on your door and demands you choose between conscience and hardship — because if you work in this industry that day is coming.

The suspension bought time, but not much. Disney now stands at a crossroads: terminate Kimmel’s contract and become pavement for the road to a brave new Trumpian world; or stand for the First Amendment and take the onslaught. There’s not much at stake, just free speech, the oxygen that sustains life in this town.

Trump’s aim is to control what we make and say. The concept seems far off and abstract. Neither is true. Is it hard to conjure a new oversight office or cabinet seat? Is it difficult to picture Trump toadies deplaning at LAX with binders of banned topics and mandated alternatives? You’ll meet them when you have to pitch for approval or get grilled about subversive co-workers.
Regardless of how the jack-booted attack on Jimmy Kimmel is resolved, this isn’t a skirmish. It’s a siege. The first thing Putin did after taking power was silence shows that criticized him. Artists are censored first because they fear us most. The fact this isn’t new doesn’t diminish the shock of the last few days. The majority in Hollywood believed their job was entertainment — the bolder souls attempted to inject theme and commentary — but for everyone this has suddenly become Westworld real.

Whether you’re reading this on line at Blue Bottle or killing time before your 3 o’clock Zoom or staring at a glowing screen unable to sleep, we have all become characters in a story where our actions carry actual weight and consequence. Our industry faces the most sophisticated, venomous, creeping evil in America’s history. There’s no standing above this conflict. No impartial observers. If you’re on the sidelines you’ve made a choice and must live with it.

Their goal is to instill fear, to make you feel helpless, hopeless, to break you down. Don’t let them. Educate yourself. Organize. Speak truth to authority. Because the story’s not written — the pen is in your hand.”