This is a devastating account of what it’s really like to be a Hollywood screenwriter. You can be a Cambridge graduate, an award winner, and the creator of a TV series on Hulu - and still work as a caterer and depend on welfare to make ends meet.
This situation is not unique to Hollywood. Here’s another expose about how the writer of the Broadway musical Head Over Heels was similarly taken advantage of: https://www.gtmusical.com/
Sounds like the person worked for either free or very cheap in the hopes of advancing in the industry and getting big payouts.
Ironically, they probably took place of someone who stood their ground and demanded upfront pay.
The problem will persist as long as there is a supply of people who are willing to work for free or cheap.
This is very similar to video game development industry. There is a large pool of developers who are passionate about games and are willing to work for cheap with poor working conditions. The only real solution has been to dissuade new developers from trying to enter that niche and work in a different area with double pay and better conditions.
She might not even have known that there is a different way of doing it. The guild had to tell her that she was owed money and benefits. That’s different from taking somebody else’s place. There is probably no entry process for newcomers to lean about better way, since it is not a company but a nebulous industry with thousands of independent actors in the game. That’s why the guild is necessary, it’s impossible to expect each new excited, clueless person with an idea to know and bargain for that on their own.
The problem will persist as long as the exploiters can do it. You will never get every person to individually negotiate the right way.
Game developers should also unionize at industry level. That way new developers would be protected right away and could not be exploited before they realize it. No need to dissuade them, although there probably will not be that many openings that often anymore.