photo credit: Colin Summers
While you might not know her name, you’ve probably watched a show she has written on. She created Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and wrote for Coach, Newhart, Murphy Brown and many others.
In this absorbing and brave Vanity Fair Letterman and Me she talks about her time as a writer on Late Night with David Letterman. Finally we have a real, live person who has years of experience (there have been so few women on the writing staff so it’s hard to get someone on the record) talking about the behind the scenes of that show. And it ain’t pretty. Sex between staffers was rampant, and yes, it does matter to people working in that environment.
Here are some excerpts:
At this moment, there are more females serving on the United States Supreme Court than there are writing for Late Show with David Letterman, The Jay Leno Show, and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien combined. Out of the 50 or so comedy writers working on these programs, exactly zero are women. It would be funny if it weren’t true.
I was the second female writer ever hired at Late Night. When I applied for the job in 1988, I had no way of knowing how much the odds were stacked against me. In 27 years, Late Night and Late Show have hired only seven female writers. These seven women have spent a total of 17 years on staff combined. By extrapolation, male writers have racked up a collective 378 years writing jokes for Dave (based on an average writing room of 14 men, the size of the current Late Show staff).
Without naming names or digging up decades-old dirt, let’s address the pertinent questions. Did Dave hit on me? No. Did he pay me enough extra attention that it was noted by another writer? Yes. Was I aware of rumors that Dave was having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Was I aware that other high-level male employees were having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Did these female staffers have access to information and wield power disproportionate to their job titles? Yes. Did that create a hostile work environment? Yes. Did I believe these female staffers were benefiting professionally from their personal relationships? Yes. Did that make me feel demeaned? Completely. Did I say anything at the time? Sadly, no.
I just want to personally shout out and thank Nell for having the guts to put her experience in writing. The only way things will change is if people with personal experience out the bad behavior and say, this has happened to me, and no, it’s not ok. Thank you Nell.
Read this piece: Letterman and Me
Nothing ever seems to change, sadly. I’ve experienced these kinds of situations myself in years past, tho not now that I work for myself and have become more assertive and confident. Altho I’m bothered that people were using sex as a currency on the Letterman show, I’m not shocked. That’s sort of business as usual on both sides of the gender fence. What bothers me more is that they so clearly discriminate against women writers with experience and ability who could add a lot to the mix. I find most of Letterman’s “humor” adolescent or just plain stupid. He’s too old for that nonsense and his show reminds me of a tired, day old biscuit–you’ll only eat it if there’s nothing else or you are too tired to cook.
I am a young writer hoping to enter the world of late-night comedy in the next few years, and Ms. Scovell’s article was both terrifying and heartening. I think the most important thing she recommends is putting the application guidelines online or at least in an accessible place so that women and people of color (of both genders!) can have access to the same opportunities as the white guys who recommend their white guy friends to do white guy comedy. I don’t think the value of equal access can be overstated. The fact of the matter is that if we were given equal access, we could show our equal talent.
A big thanks to Nell Scovell for speaking out.
Access is a huge problem. Women writer/directors have a much harder time getting representation. You simply can’t submit your work without an agent or manager. If you check the bottom tier clients at at the big agencies like WME, UTA, CAA, you’ll find that many of them are men with very few credits. They are still in the very early stages of their careers, yet an agent has signed on to market them as a writer or director. Women never get the same support.
For example, Courtney Hunt didn’t have an agent until Frozen River got into Sundance. The screenplay was later nominated for an Academy Award. Apparently at no point during the years it took Frozen River to get financed did it occur to anyone that she was a great writer that they could sell. The bar is so much higher for women.
Any other business with such appalling statistics in employing women year after year would institute a diversity program. If they were smart they would, because this cannot go on forever.