Writer Catherine Oyster discusses her journey from unscripted TV to participating in the Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program. As a science fiction writer, Oyster shares her concerns about A.I.'s potential impact on creativity and emphasizes the need to keep humans in decision making. She credits the program for preparing her for her role as the script coordinator on Netflix’s Outer Banks.
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey as a writer?
I went to UCLA film school. That’s where I started and after graduating, I went on to work in unscripted. It was growing a lot at the time. I worked mostly of food competition and cooking related programs. I always had an interest [in writing], and when I went to film school I had interests in both narrative and documentary.
What do you write about?
I like to write science fiction and family drama. I like hypothesizing on future technology and how we’ll be impacted by things like artificial intelligence and remote work. I enjoy thinking about how it’s impacting us emotionally and in our family dynamics as well.
Since A.I. has been in the forefront of people’s minds this last year, where do you think society is going with that technology in the future?
There is a cause for concern. I think it’s important to regulate and keep humans at the center of the decision making. My fear for A.I. is that we get to a point of automation that institutions will default to what the computer says. They’ll become resistant to human reasoning. When it comes to creativity, I see it as a tool. Ultimately, the consumer is a human, and you need humans overseeing projects.
What job did you get after the program?
I worked on Outer Banks as a script coordinator for Netflix. It came out of doing the [Writers’ Access Support Staff Training] program. I worked on a full season of it, and it was a great job. I ended up becoming a union script coordinator and joining the Local 871. I love being in a union. I love all the benefits that come with it and the continued learning opportunities.
What did being the script coordinator look like for you?
When I tell people that I’m a script coordinator, I tell them that I am essentially the master of all of the drafts. I keep track of every single draft, and I also distribute every single draft. I read every draft and I make sure that the intended scene structure and spellings of words stays intact. I also kept track of changes and reported changes to the relevant departments that needed to know about them.
How did the Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program prepare you for that position?
The Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program really did prepare me for script coordinating. I wouldn’t have known anything about script coordinating if I hadn’t taken part in the program. I was able to use all the skills they taught from day one to properly work as a script coordinator.
What advice would you offer to emerging writers seeking support staff positions?
I think that emerging writers should consider looking at support staff positions because you get to be directly involved with the showrunners and the writers. You start to build relationships. You learn through reading. You’ll learn about the different writing styles of each writer and the showrunners. It’s very interesting to see how that works and how it ultimately becomes one script that has been contributed to by so many different people. That’s really helpful as a writer.
If you’re lucky you’ll be in the writers’ room when they are meeting so you can hear the creative discussions. If there is an opportunity to contribute, do it. You’ll learn so much about crafting the story. On Outer Banks, there was a lot of research because it was about treasure hunting. There were a lot of elements to keep track of in the treasure hunting myth that they created. The further you get along, there’s layers and layers of added details.
How does your career look different before and after participating in the program?
I’ve got a career working in unscripted, and I’ll continue to access that. I’m fortunate that I’m used to working in a gig-to-gig environment since script coordinating is the same way.
During the strike, I wrote a book. It’s a science fiction novel called The Hostess. The audiobook will be released on Audible and the book will be released on Amazon.
Last question: when working in entertainment there’s always talk of “getting your foot in the door” and breaking in. Do you think you’ve broken in yet?
Yes, I do think I have broken into both unscripted and scripted. I have been working in this industry for a long time. I would say a lot of my community of friends is from my network in my career. I feel like I have my foot in the door that way. It doesn’t mean I can jump into whatever job I want, especially since asking for opportunities is hard. It’s challenging for me because in a friendship I don’t want to treat that person as someone that I view for work, but you have to put yourself out there.
This program has been amazing for giving me the skills to work as a script coordinator. I now have access to the scripted world like I’ve always wanted to. I feel very prepared and ready to be a script coordinator. I like being there to content to work on my own writing and to develop my own craft. I can continue to develop relationships and meet other people who do work in scripted. That has been an amazing opportunity, and I hope to continue to grow.