OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — If you bump into Brett Maline in Los Angeles, you might not guess he's from small-town Nebraska. But if you did, it might be because of how hard he works.
He "worked on a farm all four years in high school," he said. "You learn how to put your head down and work and work ethic is huge. That is a huge asset that you have coming out of a place like Minden."
The Minden, Nebraska native has been on strike with the Writer's Guild of America until this week, when a deal was reached.
"I never would have thought that, you know, coming from a small town ... that I'd get to be a part of such a historic strike," he said.
He says it hasn't been easy. Restaurants owned by Drew Carey in Los Angeles have offered free meals to WGA members, he said.
"And I did (ordered free meals) because I was broke," he said. And I would always get a beer float to make myself feel a little better because I love beer floats. So I'm gonna get a little beer float tattoo."
When it's released next week, you'll be able to see his work with Marvel on the second season of Loki. He also has a YouTube channel called Genuine Jerks.
The writer's deal is expected to be ratified next week. But actors are still on strike.
"Hopefully it (the end of the writer's strike) means the producers are realizing the value (of labor)," said Rebecca Staab, an actor back in Omaha this week to visit family.
You might recognize Staab, a Ralston High and UNL grad, and former Miss Nebraska from Netflix: Night Agent and Love Hard. She's been on Seinfeld, NCIS and Cheers to name just a few.
She says there are some misconceptions about the industry.
"The majority of Hollywood are working people," she said. "The majority of Hollywood isn't from California. They're from Nebraska, and Iowa, and Missouri."
The actor's strike has a lot to do with pay as the way we consume entertainment changes. She said actors historically have gotten "the short end of the stick" at each change, including cable and the internet. She said only three percent of actor's guild members make enough to qualify for health care.
She hopes that by the time writers have content ready, actors will have reached a new deal, too.
"It's not only the actors, it's everybody else in the industry," she said. "It's the camera operators. It's the lighting guys. It's the dolly grips," Staab said. "Everybody would like to get back to work ... For us, it's hard. People ... can't pay their rent. They can't pay their mortgage."
Both writer's and actor's guild are concerned about artificial intelligence in the industry.
"It's kinda funny that the actors are the ones that really have to stand up for the world with AI," she said. "There needs to be some kind of regulation."
Maline said the changes, if approved, will give more opportunities to young writers like himself.
"A lot of people did the hard thing because they knew it was the right thing for the generations to come," he said.
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