Pencils down
A few minutes ago, the WGA announced plans for the strike. Barring dramatic progress in negotiations over this weekend, it’s happening.
I’ve largely avoided talking about contract negotiations and the strike,1 because I have no particular insight. I’m not on the WGA Board, nor the negotiating committee. But because I’m one of the higher-profile screenwriters, people give whatever I say unwarranted authority. And you know, I’m all about authority.
Now that we’re at the 23rd hour, I can clarify a little bit more about what’s going on, and where I stand.
Last night, I went to the largest WGA meeting in history, held at the Convention Center downtown. The negotiating committee explained the progress (and lack of progress) in negotiations with the AMPTP, and confirmed that a strike would be occurring. Representatives from helpful allies, including SAG and the Teamsters, also spoke. I was encouraged by the thoughtfulness of the negotiating committee, who are dedicated to achieving a fair deal without unwarranted suffering.
If you know absolutely nothing about the issues — or if you have to explain it to your grandmother, who’s upset that her favorite soap opera is off the air — here’s my very short summary of the situation.
Writers for film and television are paid a small fee when the things they write (movies and television shows) are shown again on re-runs or DVD. These are called residuals, and they’re much like the royalties a novelist or a songwriter gets.
Residuals are a huge part of how writers are able stay in the business. These quarterly checks pay the mortgage, particularly between jobs.
There’s widespread belief that the rate paid to writers for DVD’s is too low. It was set 20 years ago, when DVD was a nascent and expensive technology. DVD’s are now cheap and hugely profitable, yet the rate remains fixed.
Downloads will eventually supplant DVD’s. That’s why it’s crucial to set a fair rate for them now, and avoid the same trap of “let’s wait and see.”
There are other creative and jurisdictional issues (such as animation and reality television) which are also on the table. According to the AMPTP, residuals are the major stumbling block, however.2
Yesterday’s Variety and Hollywood Reporter featured this ad, in which showrunners from almost every drama and comedy on American television made it clear that they and their staffs would be doing no writing during a strike. Television will feel the impact of a strike long before features, because the season is only half-written.
But if there were an equivalent ad for feature writers, I’d sign it. As would every feature writer I know.
I’m contracted on two scripts right now, but they’ll be sitting unopened in their folders until the strike is resolved. I have a deal to write a spec for Fox, but that will also have to wait. Pencils down means pencils down. I’m not writing any features or television until there’s a contract.
So what will I do in meantime?
First, I’ll man the picket lines.
After that, I’ll turn my attention to the 100 other things going on in my life that don’t involve movies, television, or 12-point Courier.
Over the last five years, the craft has become a smaller proportion of my daily life. I’m a father, a technology nerd, and a trustee of my university. I’d like to get married. I’m helping to raise money for the new School of Cinematic Arts at USC. I’m starting an American arm of FOMO to help the orphans of southern Malawi.
I also write a lot of things that aren’t movies or TV shows. I really enjoyed the magazine writing I did this past year, and plan to do more. I wrote a play that I need to workshop. And I have this website, which is desperate for some re-tuning.
So I’ll be busy. And when the strike’s over, I’ll be excited to go back to the job I love.
- At least now we can retire the term “looming strike.” ↩
- Nick Counter: “The companies believe that movement is possible on other issues, but they cannot make any movement when confronted with your continuing efforts to increase the DVD formula, including the formula for electronic sell-through,” he said. “The magnitude of that proposal alone is blocking us from making any further progress. We cannot move further as long as that issue remains on the table.” [Link](http://www.variety.com/VR1117975166.html) to Variety. ↩
Articles
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
JA, During the strike, will feature writers write specs? If so, won’t there be a flood of them on the market once the strike is over?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Hi John,
What an interesting time to be looking for work in Hollywood as a recent (2006) film and English grad.
I’ve followed along obsessively with the negotiations and progress, and I’ve read about how those guild members will be affected.
I’ve always respected your opinions and insight, and now I have to ask, on behalf of young aspiring screenwriters and would be assistants and lackeys: How will this strike affect our job hunt? In essence, how likely are we to get hired as assistants, or for any entry level job in Hollywood for that matter, now that the strike has commenced?
I guess I’ve got to take ANY interview I can get!
Obliged,
Aaron
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Brad (#1):
Many screenwriters (feature and TV) will write specs during the strike. That’s a given. But let’s not assume it’s going to be long enough to finish a script. If it lasts 8-12 weeks, then yes, there will be a bunch of specs when it’s over.
Aaron (#2):
I’ll be honest: It’s a terrible time to come looking for an assistant job. Many assistants in Hollywood will be out of work if the strike goes a long time.
Let me think about what I’d advice I’d give someone in your situation. I’ll try to do a post on it next week.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Sounds like a wise decision. Hope you get a better deal, you guys really deserve it!
I’m a bit curious though.. Would it still be OK to start writing an original screenplay that no one is paying you to write?
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Awesome, can’t wait to read it!
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I am one of those assistants who may lose his job if (but I am afraid it’s when) the strike goes long. I really respect your taking a measured response to the issue, but I have to ask, why are the writers striking over DVD residuals? From my perspective, DVD is dead, and the battle to set the DVD rate was unfortunately lost long ago. If the writers were striking to not repeat the mistakes of the past and set an equitable and permanent residual rate for downloads and jurisdiction over digital, I would be (secretly) behind them 100%. But unless the DVD residual increase is a red herring, I really can’t support this kind of drastic action. We can all argue about the relative health of the industry until we all pass out, but the fact remains that the entertainment landscape is changing away from the TV and film business and we may face the same kind of loss of popularity that negatively impacted hockey and baseball after their labor troubles. If the writers want to fight for the future, then more power to them. If they want to redress old grievances, then God help us all.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Will I be added to the WGA blacklist, if I send in a query letter / spec script to the companies and somebody’s gonna blackmail me as a non-member? That #13 of the Strike Rules has made me quite thoughtful about my own career as an upcoming screenwriter.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:09 pm
I’d like to write a simple open response from a unique perspective, as I am highly effected by this strike, and it is difficult to put emotions to the side.
I am in the group of nearly 250,000 non-WGA members that will be hurt financially and career-wise by this strike. I am an aspiring director/writer who works on a network television show doing digital promotions like webisodes. A lot of what I do is at the core of issues of the strike.
I see a divide between the youth, like myself, who come from an open source world. We embrace technology, creativity, the internet, and any tool we can afford to get our hands on to let our images be seen and heard.
We are the dreamers, the seekers, the ever-believers that truly fight to express ourselves. We make very little, if no money, from what we do – but we do it because we love it, and now we are crushed. We are the Romantics crushed by petty Realism.
And now, everything I have done is going to come to a crashing halt. Everything I have achieved in my young career is stalled. My new manager, excited by my digital work, can’t take my TV pitch out, my potential agent wont answer his phone. I’m toasted.
Here in the offices I see sad faces. People afraid of how they are going to pay their mortgages. People looking for retail jobs. People hoping that when this is over, they will be re-hired.
The ego, greed, selfishness, and penis-lengths of the few, on both sides, is driving the deprivation of the many. It’s not high school 12,000 members of the WGA, its real life for the 250,000 losing their jobs. And for the so many more who are trying to be creative.
You’re arguing for what? The difference between 4 cents on a DVD sale? For what, the 200 or so writers, like yourself that actually have high profile enough projects to sell enough DVDs to make it matter?
Cesar Chavez fought for freedom in the fields, for people being beaten making 4 cents a day – not 4 cents a DVD.
I’ve read the issues, I know the details, and it’s easy to get into semantics and argue specifics, but on a whole, NOTHING in these arguments warrants the historical weapon of a strike. A strike, a tool that is supposed to speak for inhumanities against the masses, not an elite few.
I’m not on the producers platform. They are greedy, money-grubbing, all the same. Of course they are. But nothing, NOTHING in this situation couldn’t be accomplished with professionalism and diplomacy.
So thank you, WGA members, for your selfishness. Thank you for making me aware that there is a monopoly on writing in this industry.
I hope, with all my heart, that the dreamers out there, the talented youth, will use now as a sign embrace the internet and all other mediums they can use to entertain, educate, and open imaginations world wide. And hopefully educate WGA members on the fact that there are a lot more people out there with hearts and souls and skills, who simply want to work.
Again, this is simply my opinion. Take it or leave it. I’m glad you can pursue all your fun projects while I go work at Starbucks.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Steve:
As a member of the WGA who only just recently (within the past year) found a foothold on a writing career (and, too, could possibly find it stalled because of the strike), I have to ask you why your thank you to the “WGA members, for your selfishness” is not equally aimed at the members of the AMPTP? They’re the flip-side to this debate. I also question your knowledge of the “details” of the strike issues. There’s a lot of talk about the DVD formula and why this is one of the key issues we are striking about, but it’s a misnomer. Recently, the AMPTP extended their definition of the DVD rate to include “all electronic sell-through.” This means they want to extend the paltry DVD compensation across the entire Internet, which we all know will be dominating all of entertainment in a few short years. Writers know DVD sales have stalled, and part of this stall is due to fact that techno-embracers like you see the new digital horizon and have stopped purchasing hardware. I’m sure you are looking forward to the day (hopefully soon) when every movie and every TV episode ever created can be easily downloaded to your computer, iPod, TV and maybe someday straight into your brain. When you have content out there to be seen by the masses, wouldn’t you want to be compensated for that? If you INVENTED something, wouldn’t you want to be paid for that?
And make no mistake… the writers walking those picket lines come Monday are NOT only walking to protect their families, but to protect YOUR future family. Writers know “electronic sell-through” is a final frontier, or at least the next technological leap that will dominate the next two decades, just as VHS and DVD dominated for twenty years before. That’s what the ‘88 strike was about and writers lost. We don’t intend to lose again, and we can’t. The VAST majority of the 12,000 members of the WGAw and WGAe are MIDDLE CLASS. They fight day-in and day-out to pay the bills, just like you. Residuals that come from produced material is what keeps us (I include myself, Mr. Middle Class) afloat when we are between gigs, as so often happens in the business of entertainment. If you think you won’t EVER be in a situation where you will be between jobs as a professional writer or director, then god bless you and your talent. But I have a feeling you’ll find a few leans years with the rest of us.
So before you throw-down against your fellow creatives, why don’t you aim some of that vitriolic language towards the studios and networks, who clearly don’t give a crap about you and the other 249,999 non-WGA workers who will be affected by this strike? We have tried to negotiate with them. We have come to the table and backed off on several of our proposals, while they have backed off on none, save rollbacks that would have taken away contributions to health and pension funds.
And make no mistake, John August and the so-called 200 members you point out who actually get movies made didn’t authorize this strike alone. Over 90% of guild members did. Why? Because the guild is dominated by TV writers, not feature writers. They get credits for the episodes they write, and soon, those episodes will be much more readily available thanks to the Internet. Next time you stream or download one of their ideas, take a second to imagine you were watching one of your own. Now multiply that by a million pairs of eyes, eyes that are enjoying your creative labor. Advertisers pay for those eyes. They pay a lot. And we just want a few cents of that, a few cents that will carry us between jobs.
Someday I hope you’ll be a member of the guild. Someday I hope you create content to be enjoyed by the masses. And then someday, we’ll see how you feel about protecting your livelihood. But until you get there… why don’t you throw those rocks evenly at both sides of the debate, rather than blaming us solely for the hardships we will all be shortly facing.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Matthew (#6):
Then I think you are (secretly) 100% behind them. Both sides will have to give in on a lot of proposals, and only time will tell if DVD ends up being one of them.
Sarah (#7):
I honestly don’t know all of the ramifications for a non-WGA writer. I’ll work on finding out more this week.
Steve (#8):
You’re doing webisodes. That’s one of the things the WGA is trying to cover. And if we succeed, you’ll get health insurance, a pension, and creative protections over your work. If we fail, you won’t. Maybe ever.
You’re an aspiring writer/director. Do you aspire to make features? You probably want your name on them. The last batch of studio proposals took writers’ names off the ads.
Maybe you aspire to write television shows. Would you like to eventually be able to buy a house and raise a family while writing television shows?
I’m highlighting the residuals issue because, frankly, that’s the issue. But all the protections — all the “givens” of working as a screenwriter — exist because of strikes that have happened 20, 40, 60 years ago. Strikes that sucked for writers and everyone else.
You’re right to be frustrated. Be angry. Take advantage of mediums available to you. Because you’re right: It’s a new time with new opportunities. The internet will replace TV. How will writers get paid when it does?
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
@Steve (#8) You ARE making an emotional argument, and for that very reason you are not seeing the long-term implications of what may be a short period of incovenience at best. Your chosen career is a far cry from the millions in this world today who can’t make a living sewing Nike shoes or making bricks. The career that you have chosen is part of an industry that was built by forerunners to you who had enough tenacity and determination to weather hard times and fight for the rights that their talent merits them. You are welcome to complain about the private problems that are occurring to you know—encouraged, in fact—but you must not forget the fact that you have what you have because of individuals who fought hard for your rights. You’ll change your tune when you’ve met with the success you crave. But more importantly, you’ll change your tune when you have the benefits that a united front has begotten you—nothing you could accomplish on your own. Solidarity is the only power we have in these fights—not artifical class divisions between writers you say have it easy and others who don’t. Your enemy is not your fellow writers but an industry who sees your talent as a mere commodity.
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:58 pm
John–
You’re a really decent human being. I’ve read so much vitriol from writers, producers, and the very popular “I’m not a writer or a producer but I have really strong opinions on how this screws me over!!!” camp recently, and it’s really nice to see someone being sensible and kind.
I just like you so much right now. Sorry to be gross with the fawning.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:01 pm
ride on!
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I support WGA strikers 100%. I’m not a screenwriter or a member of any such union, but the VHS residual fiasco where writers got screwed is mentioned in every college business course that discusses residuals and royalties. It has become a cautionary tale that instructs people not dismiss or compromise on small things which have a faint potential of becoming something substantial in the future.
Digital downloads are not huge money-producing ventures at this point in time so AMPTP is using the same line to have writers compromise on it. They’re shameless and greedy.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Stevie,
you’re so damn pretentious, a day job digging ditches would do you a hell of a lot of good.
If you’re serious about expressing yourself and seeing your dreams become reality, get over your goth crybaby self pity, and hit the bricks to raise money for an independent feature. Fund it, make it, show it, sell it.
Artists need vision, to see what other people can’t even imagine. Artists also need to be tough, to survive and thrive in a world that’s usually indifferent and sometimes actively hostile to creative people.
So you’re out of your preferred gig for a year or two. So what. Do something different. Learn from it, and come back a wiser, stronger man. Any artist has to face the reality that he might be out of work for long stretches at a time anyway. Jim Cameron drove trucks. Everybody and her sister waited on tables. People sell real estate, walk dogs, they do what they have to do. This is called making a living, and it’s where you get your best material.
Nothing warrants the historical weapon of a strike? Strikes were what got Guild members these benefits in the first place.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 pm
@Matthew: DVD is far from dead. In fact it’s just about at the peak of its popularity.
Remember that the vast majority of consumers are not on the bleeding edge. (By definition!) No downloads or Blu-Ray or HD-DVD for those folks. But they do have a DVD player, even if it’s a $50 cheapie. Sure, DVD sales will start declining eventually… but that’s still a long way off.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I should amend that: DVD is at the tail end of the peak of its popularity. But the end of the peak is far from the end of the format. Heck, audio CDs came out in 1980 and we’re still selling those 27 years later.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I’m a long time reader, aspiring writer, and lowly assistant who will most certainly be unemployed very soon. I get it. Sometimes we’ve got to be willing to sacrifice for what’s fair and for those who will come many years after. I don’t know what the “rules” are for striking (if any exist), but if you WGA members want a non-WGA/non-SAG body on the picket lines, I’m there.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Could this result in a flood of poorly written shows? My stereotypes tell me that Hollywood is filled with hordes of aspiring writers who haven’t been able to break into the buisness. Could this legion of waiters, car-washers, and pizza-delivery men, presumably with very little moral attachement to the WGA. rise up in an attempt to fill the void? Would the producers accept sub-par writing rather then write-off (excuse the pun) an entire half-season assuming the strike goes long enough. Perhaps more importantly, if they do, who will serve my coffee?
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
With a recent ruling in favor of my website that essentially makes bloggers journalists – why can’t bloggers become the next writers as well.
I’m often told that the stories I tell (and often post on my website) would make a great TV series or even a movie.
I happy that you guys want more credit but strikes affect more people than you could ever imagine – mostly your fan base. Do you know how many people have abandoned professional sports because of the strikes in various pro sports?
Hollywood is already losing fans due to outrageous decisions like NO iTunes for Universal. As hard as it has been, I’m avoiding Universal, NBC, and even GE because of it. The strike seems to a lot of people that you don’t care about them, you only care about yourself.
I say, if you aren’t careful, the next writer for the next big TV show may just be one of previously disrespected unknowns.
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Hey John,
A really excellent breakdown of the whole thing.
It’s a tough time for me, as I just completed a major job that made all the rounds and got me attention and queries for meetings on other gigs . . . to have that shut down just when the time is ripe is tough . . .
But it’s the right thing . . . writers have gotten the short end of the stick on these deals long enough (and unlike Craig, I really believe that writers of original specs should retain copyright, like they do in Europe . . . I think we’d be better off.
But that’s just my small opinion, for better or worse.
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I am another one of the 250,000 that stand to lose from the most from this stupid, selfish strike. I understand everything Steve says, and I have somethings to add. I am a Set Designer and Art Director, Local 847 & 805.
I don’t have “100 other things” to do. I have my job. I do it really, really well. And I’m about to stop doing it for… for what, four months?
I don’t get royalties for anything I do, and everything I do is just as important as any other part of the show. No, don’t try to argue that point. You didn’t “invent” anything, anymore than I invented “drafting” or “location scouting.” You’re not even a novelist: you’re a Screen Writer. Television, Theater, Film, it’s all Art By Committee. If you think your part is more important than any other part, then go do you part all by itself: go write a novel. Have fun with you magazine articles. I never claim I can do my part alone–I am glad to be part of a team. It’s unfortunate that part of my “team” is about to destroy my job. Thanks, guys!
You have a mortgage? I live in a rental, and drive a used car. Settle down: I not insane enough to blame the AMPTP for that–they didn’t drive the median price to $650K, that was accomplished by the non-industry majority of LA county. My wage does plenty to keep me comfortable and debt-free.
Your use of “Showrunner” is telling. Showrunner is an invented term. I have to explain it all the time, and layfolk still don’t get it. Here’s the short version: the term “Producer” has been thrown around constantly, and awarded to countless people as an honorific. Of the eight writers on my current job (eight writers), six are also producers (six are producers). (By the way, uh, exactly who have you been meeting with, anyway…?)
Every writer I encounter keeps saying “believe me, we don’t want to strike!!!,” yet 90% of you apparently wanted to strike; funny how I seem to keep encountering the 1-out-of-10 that voted no. Wow. What are the odds?
The media is too unaware to mention a telling point. The WGA is notoriously selfish. The WGA has never struck in sympathy or support of another union. They have always been “look out for number one.” I am a little baffled why Transpo is refusing to cross picket lines, because god knows the WGA will happily saunter across anyone else’s lines. Look out for number one. (For reference, my unions have never been the cause of an industry-halting strike. I’m just saying.)
Let me repeat Steve’s irrefutable point, “Cesar Chavez fought for freedom in the fields, for people being beaten making 4 cents a day – not 4 cents a DVD…. A strike, a tool that is supposed to speak for inhumanities against the masses, not an elite few.” No, again, don’t try to argue that point. Glad to know my career will be stunted by the “smaller proportion of [your] daily life.” I’ll think of the “new School of Cinematic Arts at USC” while I’m cashing my unemployment check, and buying groceries instead of investing in my IRA. Thanks, guys!
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Best of luck to everyone who’ll be touched (or shoved) by the strike. It all sounds as crooked as country river. But as a Canadian, I’ll give my support by staying away from the Cinema, the video store, and only watching Homegrown Television; Trailer Park Boys, Rent-a-Goalie, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Corner Gas… Canada’s frickin’ hilarious.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Speaking as a creative (I’m a graphic designer) who is coming off a long, long civic strike (I work for a major Canadian public library), you have my hearfelt support.
When employers refuse to negotiate, even when a union or guild makes significant adjustments to their position, they are behaving as bullies. They rely on those who benefit from the current state of affairs, even marginally, to defend them. And while being defended by this group, they make an almost sure bet, that those who are taking the risks and the burden of fighting the abuse will run out of ways, means and determination. They are betting that disunity and infighting will strip the cooperative impulse of civilised people and disintegrate the power that those people hold.
To conflate DVD residuals with other electronic sell through in an effort to cheapen the cost of distribution is an insult and injury. I can’t believe that it’s a good thing to marginalize content creators while simultaneously relying on them for more and more content.
All I can offer though are these words which actually got me up in the morning as our strike dragged on for almost 3 months:
Fortune favours the brave
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
DVD’s
Sorry, that’s incorrect. The plural of DVD is DVDs. The apostrophe signifies the possessive, so “DVD’s” would mean that the DVD owns something. DVDs usually don’t have any possessions. I think a writer should know this.
Likewise, Steve says:
as I am highly effected by this strike,
No, you are affected by this strike, not effected.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I’m a member of an IATSE union, the editors guild, and we all got this gem of an email on Wednesday. I’m sortof disappointed there isn’t more solidarity between the IA factions and the SAG/WGA crowd. I myself am unemployed at the moment, so I won’t be crossing a picket line by default, but I wish my union would be more supportive if that were our choice…
“FROM THOMAS C. SHORT, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT [of the IATSE]
As you are aware, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is currently in negotiations for a successor contract to the current agreement that expires on October 31, 2007. While the IATSE remains hopeful that a new agreement can be reached between the WGA and the Employers, there is a potential for a work
The IATSE has over 50,000 members in two countries engaged in motion picture and television production. Any work stoppage may have a profound and long-lasting impact on you and your families.
The IATSE contracts contain provisions that require us to continue to honor our contracts. These “no strike” provisions require the IATSE to notify our members of their obligation to honor these contracts and continue working. Any individual member who chooses to honor any picket line is subject to permanent replacement.
It is important for each IATSE member to be aware of their contractual obligation as well as the potential impact on them personally if they choose to not cross and are replaced. Contact your local union with any questions regarding this potential labor dispute.”
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:10 pm
While Hollywood insists on acting as though the 20th century never occurred and pretends that we’re still using manual typewriters, if monospaced type is absolutely required – itself in dispute – you can do way better than Courier. May I suggest Fedra Sans or Thesis Mono? And don’t say you can’t change the font in your scripts.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
John: During the strike, you and Mike should come to Canada and get married! We’ll throw you a big ol’ party!
November 3rd, 2007 at 2:57 am
Unions are a scourge on every industry- they lead to increased poverty among their members, and lower quality products. The idea that “one size fits all” is the only way to go means that many ideas never get tried, many jobs never get created, and many writers starve. Think writers don’t make enough? Half the problem is that you are effectively unionized.
And the more effective the union, the quicker the industry dies– Airlines and car manufacturers are on deaths door. IF it wasn’t for the massive head start the US film industry got (from the days when it wasn’t unionized) this industry would be dead too– instead its dying. Crappy movies and TV are the rule of the day, and the innovative people can’t even get their movies made because onerous SAG and WGA rules make the cost of doing your small independent feature unbearable to the under-financed creators.
When you force people to pay an above market price for something, you actually lose out because they simply buy less of it. You are better off letting each deal be contracted at a rate that makes sense. The writing for a reality series and the writing for Heroes and the writing for a daytime soap are not the same and thus the same compensation doesn’t make sense– those who work harder or produce better should get paid more. And those who can’t produce on that level– should be allowed to work at a lower rate, rather than be forced to be unemployed by the union.
Put another way, its better to be employed at $10 an hour than unemployed because the minimum for the job is $20 an hour and the employer decides that its not worth it.
Its amazing that a parasitical organization like the union has managed to survive– especially that they only exist because they murdered people who resisted them in the early days… and now have the force of the federal government -literally backed with guns- to get preferential treatment and the ability to violate people’s rights.
For instance, if someone wants to work but union shop rules say everyone has to be a member of the union in order to work there, then the union is LITERALLY stealing part of that persons paycheck. A friend was forced to work for less than minimum wage because the union had to get its cut– %20 of her salary up front, in order for her to keep the job.
You strike, then its on you. YOU are choosing not to work… and if your shows go dark, well, I won’t have sympathy for you, and y’all will all lose viewership next season because of it.
Wrap it in all the bullshit propaganda you want, but the bottom line is this: If you need an agent, get one, but when you force people to work on your terms, or not work at all, you are violating their rights. YOU are the violent ones, just like years ago when hoffa was busting kneecaps.
You want better residuals, negotiate them, on a case by case basis. Dont’ act like petulant children because you are unable to force others to go into agreements on your own terms.
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:21 am
Joe, I think the last WGA member who busted a kneecap was rollerblading in Santa Monica. Get a grip Dude!
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:35 am
There’s one part of the arguments presented above that doesn’t appear (to me) to make sense, that regarding royalties from DVD sales. Now, if when the royalty rate for DVDs was decided back when the technology was nascent and expensive (as you put it) presumably this was done with the assumption that these factors would prevent DVD from becoming a widespread medium, and so royalties would be set at a rate that offered a healthy level of income for screenwriters based on that level of distribution. Anything which thus causes DVD distribution to go through the roof (cost of production decreasing, the underlying technology becoming cheaper and thus entering more homes, more eyeballs etcetera) should surely mean you, the beneficiaries of such royalties, stand to make massive gains.
Arguing that the slice of the pie set in the beginning was unfair simply because back then it wasn’t expected to become a mass-market medium is surely just retrospective regret that you didn’t have the foresight to demand a higher chunk. It sounds to me somewhat similar to Fox’s signing away the merchandise rights to George Lucas for Star Wars, not realising that merchandise would be huge business. That’s their problem, and it’s also yours for not having that foresight.
But this is ignoring the simple maths of an industry coming to fruition. Surely (a small royalty) times lots is better than (a small royalty) times a few? Or does your agreement tie your royalty percentage to the inverse of sale volumes? Like I said to begin with; this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, so I’d appreciate some further explanation.
November 3rd, 2007 at 6:24 am
I agree with Joe. Unions are the the scourge of modern industry. Once upon a time, organized labor had a place. Not now. Not here. You are not striking over starvation tactics. You are striking over wealth management. Get over it.
Now, the producers are also scum. They willing adopted a pay schedule that involves future payments based on reruns, etc. They could have chosen to pay more up front to the writers and be done with it. But no, they enjoy the cash flow that rents them their courtesans and buys them their yachts.
Quite frankly, Hollywood deserves itself.
November 3rd, 2007 at 6:30 am
Joe (29),
Your gross oversimplification notwithstanding, the demise of the auto industry has very little to do with the unions and everything to do with the senior executives in place in the autos. It’s the senior executives who have, for decades, made the shortsighted decisions that have lead to the decline of the American automotive industry. By your logic, all corporate executives are a scourge on every industry. Of course, this is a gross oversimplification as well. The political system in the state of Michigan bowing to the auto industry’s whims for decades has also helped contribute to the decline. Thousands of other factors are in play as well. But to proclaim it’s the UAW that’s the scourge that has destroyed the industry is sheer idiocy.
And somehow I doubt I’m going to turn on CNN and see video of John August beating Nick Counter with a steel pipe.
Cheers,
Josh
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:22 am
Joe,
The single biggest factor in the decline of the US auto industry is poorly designed products due to management’s decision to make profit a priority over good design.
US corporations have shown a tendency to eat their seed corn. That is, damage their long term interests in pursuit of short term profits. By ending residuals as we know them, the studios will drive many talented writers out of the business, and discourage others from entering. The studios could have saved some money by not paying Mark Cherry any residuals, but then he wouldn’t be available to write DH.
Residuals reward productivity by the creators. Unsuccessful products generate very little, successful ones generate a great deal.
Crappy movies and TV are the rule of the day, and the innovative people can’t even get their movies made because onerous SAG and WGA rules make the cost of doing your small independent feature unbearable to the under-financed creators.
Not true. You don’t have to work under SAG or WGA contracts if you don’t want to. You just won’t have access to top drawer talent. You have plenty of choices. You just don’t like the choices you have.
As to your Pravda style recounting of labor history in the US, give it a rest. Big corporations have broken more laws, done more damage to the environment, injured and killed more people than the unions by an order of magnitude.
Another Day Player,
I took courses in set design in college, and I’ve done my share of construction and set painting. Your contribution is important but not essential. It’s always possible to shoot on location without anything extra. What you do adds value, but it’s possible, sometimes even desirable to go without it.
Being put out of work through no fault of your own sucks. I suggest you contact Mr. Counter personally, and light a fire under his ass to make a deal.
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:55 am
I am not in the industry and am completely unaffected by this strike. Question: why should writers get any residuals? Programmers don’t get residuals for their code. You write and you get paid. Once. I don’t think anyone should get paid again and again.
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:05 am
Another Day Player,
seriously?… Your that short sighted?… Where did you get the direction for the set you are dressing?… Exactly, the writer (or director)… I feel bad you take it that way… Maybe you should change career paths…
This is a massive issue, but there are a few people here over simplifying it, Steve if its for only “4cents a DVD” then why won’t the AMPTP just give it?…
And i thought that the decline of the auto industry was because everything can be done cheaper out of the US?… Cheaper folks to exploit… Its not like the bosses didn’t make money when it was all in the US…
Then again… what would i know… I’m Australian and I found it hard to read most of the whinging posts…
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:10 am
Mr smitty, your response is alarmingly patronizing and smacks of buying the company line wholesale.
Your “set design in college” bears no comparison at all to my twenty years in theater and television. There is no such thing as “no design.” Everything you see on a screen went thru the hands of a designer. No, don’t try and tell me about your frend’s student film, because if you put anything on a screen, congratulations: you just designed it. It’s surprisingly ignorant that you think “on location” involves nothing except pointing a camera–did no one pick the location? approve its appearance? frame the shot in a particular way? I might as easily assume my Ice Cube tray sprung from nowhere, or was created by the refrigerator–after all, I can’t see how it got there.
There is no “go without” any part of a collaborative art, or it immediately ceases to be collaborative.
If your play has only words, it’s not a play: it’s only a poem.
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:00 am
Forget the relevance of design, let me restore topicality with a point: Producers are trying to do television without writers, and look at what junk that is turning out. Can I get a shout out for Reality TV…? Didn’t think so! See, this stuff doesn’t work unless all the parts work together, folks. ;)
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
Wow, what a blowhard John August is.
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
Harvard (#25):
There’s a long history of using apostrophes to pluralize acronymns, from NGO’s, to ICBM’s, to learning your ABC’s.
That said, I usually don’t use them, so I’m surprised I did here.
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:19 am
Harvard Irving says: November 2nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
DVD’s
Sorry, that’s incorrect. The plural of DVD is DVDs. The apostrophe signifies the possessive, so “DVD’s� would mean that the DVD owns something. DVDs usually don’t have any possessions. I think a writer should know this.
I am wondering ifn that’s correct, as I recall in being taught in grammar school that the plural of an acronym such as DVD is DVD’s. Here’s where it gets complicated though, an acronym has to stand for something, and last I heard, DVD doesn’t, the acronym became standard before anyone decided what it stood for, and in the end they gave up, so is it an acronym?
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:47 am
John I see why you spent so much time avoiding this topic. And I apologize for contributing to turning this reply thread into a platform for a heated debate.
First off, I want to say that reading the comments in these post, I am actually really pleased with the tone, particularly of Gomez, and you John of your responses. Intelligent, eloquent and informed. However, I must direct one thing at Smitty, who called me Stevie. Your tone is condescending, and you make judgements about me and assume certain things about my life and lifestyle. You also take on a rude tone and personally attack who you think I am based on my tone. This type of response to me, I feel, is just simply counter productive. But to give you some insight, let me give you a few hints about me:
-I grew up poor -I fought CBS for 12 years in a legal battle -I worked a sign maker, flyer distributer, and other crappy jobs. -I have a degree in theater from UCLA and an MFA in film from USC -I have visited La Paz and worked with the United Farm Workers. I have seen injustice and fought it using my visual skills. -I am a member of SAG -I have written/directed 11 filmed shorts, many award winning. -I have had several television pilots optioned, turned around, etc -I have written/produced 2 feature films that had good lives in the festival circuit.
So perhaps I am a bit more worldly than you assume.
Now I want to just focus my argument, as I was speaking emotionally and I can take a step back to balance things out.
Don’t get me wrong WGA members, I have no love for AMPTP. But in this instance I think no side is right. Both sides are getting screwed and doing the screwing. Of course I want credit for my work. Of course there is injustice. But it boils down to one thing to me:
The gravity of the issues at hand, in my opinion, do not warrant the extremities brought on by a strike. Again, I think history shows that strikes are one of histories most powerful tools for changing the world, used to fight injustice in the fields, the south, factories – it is the peoples most desperate tool for making change.
But in this instance, while you say you are doing this not only for you, the WGA, but for me – well, as that third party, I’m saying, I don’t want you to do this for me. I want you to sit down and be diplomats and figure this out in other ways.
If AMPTP would have shut out the WGA, this would have been a very different story. But instead, you, the WGA, are the ones making this decision. Approximately 9,000 of you are making a decision that will hurt 250,000 employees. Some of which, most of which, unlike me, have no desire to be writers or join the WGA, they just want to edit, direct, production manage, fix lights,and go home to their families and pay their mortgages. They love this industry for the same reason we all do at the core -we see the magic. But we have to live and eat in this industry.
You, the few, much like our government, have the hefty responsibility of making a huge decision that will effect the masses. But unlike our government, you are making this decision without checks and balances, and without a vote from the population.
Can’t you see that the same argument many liberal Hollywood members made against premature aggressions over seas – that it was an overreaction not supported by the masses – well now that it is an issue that directly hits at your core… you’re acting rash, you’re going to war when there are other options. And you’re not listening beyond the scope of your own comfort zone.
I had a friend who went to the great gathering of 3000, a very prominent feature writer and member of the WGA, who said he never saw so many Bentleys and Mercedes parked in that lot. A friend who said the mob mentality was frightening, to say the least.
Walking to the set of the television show I worked on, a Teamster (boy are they in the worst place) asked me if I was a writer -he looked like he wanted to kill me! What are you doing?
And yes, John, I get screwed a lot. I get credit for nothing, I get payed crap for a lot of what I do, I am taken advantage of… heck, I’ve ghost written memos and scripts for showrunners. It sucks and I want to fix it, I want justice to.
I just don’t want to irresponsibly use weapons and tactics that hurt the many to do it. The threats to non-union members, the rallying of a flock of blind sheep. It sucks man. It sucks.
I understand that some of you think I am ignorant of the specifics. In this information age, they are all over the place, I can see them, I can read. I know the details.
I just don’t think hurting that many people is worth it.
Find another way. Please.
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:53 am
On a side note, I always mess up “effected” and “affected.” Curse of the starving class. I’m a foreigner, and this language is strange to me! lol That’s why I have such a great manager who tears through my scripts with a fervor, I’d be nowhere without her. Let’s see if this strike works in her favor.
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
Thank you for your perspective, John. I’m interested to see how this all plays out (and how long it takes to play). Are WGA members allowed to stockpile new work which hasn’t been shopped around? Say, one comes up with a new script idea – are they allowed to work on it during the strike? Or would this be a violation of the “pencils down” rule?
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:34 am
There’s one good thing about the strike… I finally found an interesting topic to write my (5000 words) college term paper about :-)
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Steve,
I reacted in anger to you initial post. I shouldn’t have responded in a hostile way.
I resent the claim that writers are somehow responsible for the fact that the producers don’t mind hurting thousands of film workers in order to get what they want.
I suspect that if the producers offered a paltry 0.5 per cent rate on both downloads and DVDs, Verrone would be forced to make a deal. He might not like it, but even a slight increase would allow him to come back to the Guild and say, “We got a little more, and I wanted to keep everyone working.”
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Hey John and friends,
As a non-WGA writer, is it “okay/ethical”, for me to submit my low budget genre spec to non-WGA signatory producers? I do support the strike, and I do want to be WGA soon, but I live in a “sub guild” part of the industry right now.
Is there a place where I can find a list of “struck companies”? I tried the AMPTP site, I tried the WGA site, but there isn’t a list of signatories there — at least not one I could find.
I’m guessing I’m not alone in this dilemma so if you guys could help out, that would be great.
November 3rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
This is exactly part of my question TMax. (Sorry, I used the word “blackmail”, of course I meant “tell on me…”. I was pretty tired when I wrote my concern. I also support the strike, but as a prospective screenwriter, I also want to take any chance I can get. I think that’s understandable in a way.
November 3rd, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Please stop with the grammar policing, there are no rules in grammar, just customs. To most of the English readers in the world, this entire page appears to contain numerous spelling errors.
The topic is the writer’s strike.
November 3rd, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I guess I should clarify that I wanted to find a list of struck companies so that I’d know where I could and couldn’t submit to with clear conscience.
November 3rd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
41 DVD stands for digital video disk, no?
November 3rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Lots of valid opinions have expressed on both sides of the argument here, and, of course, there are flaws on both sides as well (logical fallacies, incorrect information, too much emotion clouding otherwise sound judgment, etc). But what’s most striking is how intolerant we are of each others’ opinions and how much more likely to simply oppose an argument with lots of flame throwing and attack than to simply say, “Oh that’s an interesting point but here’s why I disagree” or “I disagree with your premise, but there is one thing you said that I thought was worth thinking about.” Sort of illustrates why it was so hard for two groups that have a vested interest in the outcome (the WGA and the AMPTP) are having such a hard time coming to terms. It’s easier to hurl accusations than it is to have a rationale conversation with someone with whom you disagree. That’s too bad.
November 3rd, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Joe (#29) – That was over the top, historically inaccurate, etc…, but in the middle of all that I did find a point that I could agree with, which is that working screenwriters are not horribly exploited the way that, say, migrant farm workers are (I don’t remember the example you used, but this is close enough). I’ve been disappointed by the hyperbole I’ve heard from some of my fellow writers because I believe it frames the issues improperly, and in so doing compromises our effectiveness in the public discussion (and maybe at the negotiating table as well?) We are not fighting against “exploitation” and pretending that we are makes our demands seem petulant and childish when they are not.
I’ve heard people say that working in Reality TV is like working in a sweatshop. If you know anything about the history of sweatshops you know this isn’t remotely true.
I’ve heard people say that the future of our craft is at stake. Obviously it’s not. What’s at stake are the right to be fairly compensated for the exploitation of our intellectual property via the internet and DVDs. In other words, we’re fighting to be compensated for the exploitation of our intellectual property in all mediums, as contemplated by U.S. copyright law (more about this below).
Dave (#35), the reason screenwriters receive residuals is because of U.S. copyright law, which grants “authors” the right to control the exploitation of and earn profits from their “original works of authorship.” In the publishing world, an author retains her copyright. So first she gets paid by the publishing company (they are paying her for the exploit her work of authorship in book form). Then, if she wants to sell the film rights, she can do so and she gets paid again (this time the production company or film studio is paying for the right to exploit her same work of authorship, but this time in movie form).
Now, in the film industry, screenwriters do not retain their copyright, but it is understood that they should nonetheless profit everytime their original work of authorship is exploited in a different medium than the one for which they were originally paid. When I sell a spec or write a screenplay on assignment, I am selling them the right to exploit my original work of authorship in film form (those are my writing fees) and for the right to exploit my original work of authorship in other mediums (DVD, internet, TV, ) at their discretion. If they choose to exploit my work in these other mediums, I get paid for the use of my work in those additional mediums. Some other examples of this include a singer being paid additional money when his song appears in a movie or a car commercial, or a playwright being paid when his play is turned into a movie. (A side note: even when a screenwriter works for hire turning someone else’s idea into a film story, he still contributes enough to the work of authorship for it to be considered a new work of authorship under copyright law. This is because copyright law does not protect ideas, it protects the execution of those ideas, which, as anyone who’s ever written a screenplay knows, is where the real work gets done).
I don’t know a lot about writing computer source code, but I’m guessing it’s only exploited in one medium (i.e. the computer medium, or whateer you call it) and that’s why you’re only paid once. Our work is exploited in more than one medium, which is why we are paid more than one time. Of course, with all the hyperbole floating around, it’s no suprise that it got lost in the shuffle that all we’re asking for (with the DVD and internet download issue) is to be paid for the exploitation of our work as anticipated by U.S. copyright law. And the fact that there is a DVD formula at all suggests that the AMPTP already recognizes that this is a fair and reasonable request.
The real truth that the AMPTP has not had to address is that paying a fair internet download rate would not destroy them. The existing network sites where you can download tv shows are advertiser supported. That means, the networks are already earning moneys on downloads. The advertisers pay whatever price the market will bear. Right now the rate for these add-buys is probably fairly modest compared to what it will be as downloads become more ubiquitous, at which point those ad buy rates will increase. What will not increase by much is what it costs the networks to make those additional profits. Unlike with DVDs, there is no per unit cost (or it’s marginal). If the download market never happens, advertisers will stop buying ads and the networks will stop providing those sites. What won’t happen is that the networks and studios will go out of business in the process. It’s simply a silly argument, and one that could be defeated with a little economic analysis and some logical thinking.
No, we are not being exploited (not if you use any rational definition of the term). That’s clear to anyone who’s ever seen real human exploitation up close (or even on tv). BUT, we are facing down companies who do not wish to pay for the raw goods on which they make their profits. We’re saying they should pay, and if the issue were properly framed, I doubt anyone would argue the point. Firestone can’t make tires without spending money on rubber. By the same token, Film studios and networks cannot make movies and tv shows and sell them on DVD and via internet downloads without spending money on that intellectual property at every step along the way (again, as contemplated by U.S. copyright law). That should have been our argument.
As for the jurisdictional issues, this isn’t the year to fight those battles. I’ve written feature animation and was paid WGA minimums for my work (though no pension and health). I don’t know what my colleagues on the tv side face, but I do know that this isn’t the year that this battle will be one. The internet issue has to take precedence, and we’ve got to choose our battles. As for reality writing, I have no objection to them being under WGA jurisdiction, but again, this isn’t the year. By the way, Joe (#29), reality writers should not be paid the same as feature writers, but no one’s suggesting they should be. The MBA has one set of minimums for tv, one for film, one for low-budget film. There’s no reason to believe that there wouldn’t also be a rate scale for reality writers that would take into account the difference between writing scripted television and non-scripted television.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Please stop grammar policing . . . The topic is the writer’s strike.
Actually . . . the topic is the writers’ strike. HTH. . .
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Of course people in unions want to get paid again and again for the same work. I don’t believe anything like a residual exists outside the entertainment industry. I don’t see union auto workers getting paid a few cents for every mile the car they built runs.
As an indie producer – this could be pretty good. I suppose there will be plentiful out of work talent to be had. I’ll be busy while union folks will be sitting there out of work waiting for their guarantees, as if any of us every had ANYTHING guaranteed.
WHO THE HELL EVER DECREED THAT YOU OUGHT TO HAVE $37K (minimum) TO WRITE A FEATURE SCRIPT???? What a bunch of spoiled rotten whiners. Like any producers have any revenue whatsoever guaranteed to them. I hope the strike lasts till hell freezes over. Maybe the unions will finally cave after their members start talking about what to do after their homes are foreclosed and cars repossessed.
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Okay,
How good a writer can you be if you make such a silly mistake in referring to what should be “the 11th hour,” not the 23rd hour, especially since there isn’t such a thing…
Why not spend more time writing and educating yourself than whining in your blog!?
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:02 pm
I suppose there will be plentiful out of work talent to be had. I’ll be busy while union folks will be sitting there out of work waiting for their guarantees, as if any of us every had ANYTHING guaranteed.
Unfortunately for you, no. A strike doesn’t repeal the basic laws of economics. Top drawer talent will always be scarce, and will usually command premium prices. Either you spend the money to get recognized gems, or you spend the time and energy to find that rare diamond in the rough. Either way, there’s ultimately no getting off cheap.
You can break in with low budgets and guerrilla tactics but you can’t live that way. In order to sustain a career, in order to have a life, talent needs the benefits the unions have won for them.
You love movies, you love your craft, but love don’t pay the rent.
Paula,
thanks for one the most concise, thoughtful analyses I’ve seen on the net.
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Hey John, I’m an aspiring writer living in Los Angeles and I was wondering if there was anything I could do during the strike to show my support. Do you have any suggestions?
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Adam,
Union auto workers don’t produce intellectual property, therefore they are not entitled to be compensated for each use of their “original works of authorship” when they’re exploited in other mediums. You’ve drawn the wrong analogy. As for not being able to afford the services of a professional writer, cry me a river. I can’t afford the services of a private chef.
Al,
Thanks for the compliment. Always nice.
November 4th, 2007 at 3:55 am
I am another Fred, not the one complaining about the grammar police.
Ironically, I want to point out that DVD is not an acronym. SCUBA is. NASA is. DVD is an initialization. Look up the word “acronym.”
The other Fred is correct that grammar rules are customs and practices that get extra (too much?) attention, but without rules everyone would think that a podium is the thing you stand behind, not the thing you stand on.
(Look up “lecturn” and “podium.”)
Everything has the meaning we ascribe to it. “Rules” make it easier to understanding the meaning.
And finally, on a website that is about writing I think grammar is always -on the table- as a subject, even if you are more agitated about the strike.
November 4th, 2007 at 7:23 am
Okay,
How good a writer can you be if you make such a silly mistake in referring to what should be “the 11th hour,� not the 23rd hour, especially since there isn’t such a thing…
Why not spend more time writing and educating yourself than whining in your blog!?
LIATB,
“Twenty-third hour” is a perfectly acceptable usage in an informal, conversational context. There is in fact such a thing as a twenty-third hour. There is also a twenty-fifth hour.
(If you want to play grammar police, it helps if you’re up to date.)
You’ve committed the logical fallacy commonly known as argument from ignorance. August is exceptionally literate, well read, and widely published. You, on the other hand, don’t know, and don’t care.
November 4th, 2007 at 8:53 am
And, of course, there’s a 24th hour also. Grammarians, RELAX. Stop being so controlling. It’s tiresome.. If you want to use perfect grammar 100% of the time, go right ahead, but I ain’t gonna. This is a blog post, not a brief to the Supreme Court. I don’t buy for a minute that grammar mistakes (real or perceived) make it hard for you to understand what someone is saying. If they do, you can ask someone to clarify their meaning without correcting someone’s speech. It’s rude.
If you’re such a stickler for the rules, try applying the rules of good manners, whose aim is to make people feel comfortable, even if they drink from their soup bowl. (By the way, I almost said “rules of etiquette” back there because it sounds better, but you probably would have lectured me on the difference between manners and etiquette. I’m well aware of the difference, but who cares? School is out, man.) And, really, here’s the real thing (yep, that was a raggedy-ass faux sentence): Creative writing (screenwriting, novel writing, etc…) is not about the grammar rules. It’s about the effective use of language. Pick up a screenplay, a novel, any peace of creative writing and you’ll see dialogue that breaks the rules of grammar, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and other so-called “mistakes” that make the writing sing off the page.
Oy.
November 4th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Oops, sentence police, I probably should have written “If they (which modifies “mistakes”) do, you can ask him (the person) to clarify his meaning without clarifying his speech.” Yep, I know better than to use the plural “their” to refer to a person singular. But, again, big woopdy do.
November 4th, 2007 at 9:50 am
53 “What’s at stake are the right to be fairly compensated for the exploitation of our intellectual property via the internet and DVDs. In other words, we’re fighting to be compensated for the exploitation of our intellectual property in all mediums, as contemplated by U.S. copyright law.”
Not all mediums. Not graphic novels, books, magazines, blogs, student films. Thought it wouldn’t surprise me.
Here is my fear – I see a lot, heck most WGA members that I know fighting for “digital compensation” when they barely know how to use a mouse. Ignorance of the online world is abundant. My job is to use the digital world to bring in demos for a network television show. Which I do, pretty darned well. Included in that job is webisode production, website creation, interactive experience development, games etc.
Every one of those things is creative, and ultimately, every one requires pen to go to paper. Or rather keyboard to word processor.
So where do you draw the line? What is WGA and what isn’t? Does it seem fair that a kid who creates the next big thing on youtube wont get compensated fairly. But the WGA writer of the next crappy Heroes webisodes series that is churned out by PAs for 0 dollars will get a nice chunk of profit?
Or even better yet, does it seem fair that people like me, fighting to keep our feet in the door, and finding and mapping out this brave new digital world will have some guild of writers sweep up the land we just discovered for themselves? They say it is better for us, but, given the past, odds are it just means less jobs for us kids, more jobs and money for writers that are already established.
I’m not going to argue about DVD, in fact I agree that basically everyone but a select few has been ripped off by the DVD model. But please, please be very careful, I beg you, with how you approach ORIGINAL digital content on the internet. You could ruin it for a lot of kids.
I have to say one thing about the word intellectual property – I just saw the first 20 minutes of “John Tucker Must Die.” If that is intellectual, and if someone wants to claim that as property, then I am sorry WGA, time to make some changes. :)
I have to share one major personal hesitation with the guild. My father was a feature writer and is a published author. A long time ago, when he was going to join the guild, he happened to be working from Saudi Arabia. That is where his job was. He still turned in drafts to studios in America. He still had many projects underway here. But the guild refused him membership unless he quit his job and moved to America, because at the time, they didn’t support that country under their charter.
This is where guilds can be come the monsters they were built to slay. Powerful machines that DON’T LISTEN to the people, just themselves. Machines that come up with overbearing rules and regulations (remember Lucas and Rodriguez with the DGA). Machines that start looking more like elite clubs. And what worries me the most, is that these machines can rally the troops at the push of a button, troops that will fight blindly in solidarity with each other, but not the public.
You know that both sides have, in their back pocket, the agreements they really will settle for. It’s a pity that they’re going to play these stupid games for 22 weeks, instead of just coming forth now.
November 4th, 2007 at 10:33 am
I will still maintain that intellectual property or not – very few in the real world get paid residuals. I knew a very talented draftsman once. He was paid by contract to draw up in the oilfield industry what is called a skid. He was compensated for the skid drawing, and then was released. The manufacturing company continued building the skid – for twenty years – from the draftsman’s drawing. They made millions. Did he ever complain? Of course not. He was paid to make the drawing once. Any notion of him receiving some sort of royalty would’ve been laughed at – it simply has no parallel in anything outside the entertainment industry.
November 4th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Adam, it kinda does have a parallel. It’s caled a patent.
November 4th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Ooops, called a patent.
November 4th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Hi John,
I just erased my entire comment. I can only say good luck. Hopefully this won’t last too long. My career has just been shut down. I guess, though, I can consider myself lucky that I can work as a sw developer.
November 4th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
As long as the blog is still a go…
November 4th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
@ Dave
Actually, many do. You have small and individual software developers, who make money directly from each copy of the software sold. If they don’t sell any copies, they don’t get any money. Likewise, there are small companies who have a collective agreement of profit-sharing among developers, which amounts to something very similar.
Then you have programmers who are paid bonuses in the form of company stock. That also has some similarity to the residual model.
Anyway, if a programmer wants to get paid residuals, and doesn’t, then whose fault is that? There’s nothing to stop a programmer trying to negotiate such a deal.
Who are you to say how anybody should get paid? Is there something wrong with people freely entering into contracts for whatever compensation/revenue model they feel is appropriate?
@ Another Day Player
How is that relevant to anybody else? Likewise, if you want royalties, then negotiate them! Nobody is saying you should be prevented from being paid royalties if you are able to achieve that.
Seriously, all this whining strikes me as sheer jealousy. “Waaaah! Somebody gets paid in a different way than I do! Booo Hoo! They shouldn’t get paid royalties.” Get a grip. Why is it so hurtful to you that somebody is a member of a professional organization, and wants to negotiate a better deal?
Does it also bother you that inventors get paid “royalties” on inventions they have patented? They should just get paid once, right? Did you ever stop to think that getting paid less up-front, but having royalties allows for more innovation, because it allows companies to take a risk – and rewards the product that is successful? If they had huge up-front costs, then they would try fewer things, fund fewer projects.
November 4th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
having royalties allows for more innovation, because it allows companies to take a risk – and rewards the product that is successful? If they had huge up-front costs, then they would try fewer things, fund fewer projects.
Good point.
November 4th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
I don’t work in the industry, but have friends on both sides of the debate. While it’s a shame that it’s come to a strike, I can’t help but side with the writers on this one.
Over the weekend, I saw an article that referenced that in Q2 this year, Disney announced that they’d sold over 2 million movie downloads and over 23 million TV downloads via iTunes. Under their current terms and definitions, if I understand correctly, they’d like to pay the writers–nothing. I can understand why they’d want to keep that arrangement in place (see that old saw “Revenue-Costs=Profits”). I can also understand why the writers would want to get paid something, including residuals on those projects they’ve written that continue to generate revenue for the corporation over time.
Seems simple enough.
November 4th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
I hope the strike ends quickly. I’m not really going to pick a side, because honestly neither one is a strong case. It’s not something worth striking over, and it’s also not something worth holding out and allowing a strike over. Both parties are being stubborn, but push come to shove, I’m siding with the artist. Picketing, though? I mean, really? I guess you gotta do what you gotta do if the union tells you to… not much different than a studio forcing you to re-write a character I guess…
November 4th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
From the LA Times: Steve Skrovan, a writer for ” ‘Til Death.” “This is it. This is the time in history that a stand has to be made.”
What did I miss? Is the Death Star aiming its guns at planet earth? Are mutants finally going to fight to live in peace with humans? Or, wait, is this a strike over money in an industry that represents about 2% of the US economy? I’m confused, if the last strike was nearly 20 years ago, doesn’t that mean both sides have had, oh, about 20 years to negotiate?
Surely, this strike is far more important than martial law in nuclear powered Pakistan, or the atrocities in Darfur? Is North Korea re-opening its nuclear program? Wait, those places are a hole ocean away, so they don’t really count, do they? I mean, this guy from the brilliant, world-class show “‘Til Death” has to make a stand. Yeah!
For all the glory of the Roman Empire, they ate of of leaded plates and inbred till they fell.
“Ready your pagan gods for war” – Deadwood
November 4th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
One last thing before I leave this thread, and a thanks to all, I think you have a pretty good idea where you stand.
http://www.rageagainstthestrike.com
November 4th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
What I find particularly interesting and disconcerting is the timing of this strike is the thought of how it will effect the nascent development of TV and movie downloads. There are already many issues around this because of international distribution contracts, copyright and more. These issues are currently damning pretty much any effort to establish a download system that actually works without alienating its own audience.
If a new price becomes attached to every video download I don’t see it helping the new medium very much, one commenter mentioned his desire to see a time when one could easily download all the shows, songs and movies at will… Well that is unlikely to be soon if the WGA succeeds in adding another barrier.
I’m not against the WGA succeeding in their aims, I am just interested and fearful about the complexity it will add to any endeavours to create internet based entertainment in the future.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Scott Parsons,
The network sites are all advertiser supported. They’ll be fine. As the rate of downloading increases, the ad buy rate will also increase (and the advertisers will pay the increased price because they wil benefit directly from the increased traffic. The model for this is the same exact model that’s worked in television for decades. Since, with downloads, there are no significant overhead costs (no manufacturing, no shipping to stores, etc) this segment of the industry won’t have any difficulty growing at all. It’s a non-issue.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:06 am
I’ve read that a fairer residual system will pay mortgages whilst they are in-between jobs. Increasingly, I’ve noticed that it’s the lifestyle that has changed, more money earned, more money spent.
When the well looks dry, there is panic, yet the person didn’t have the foresight to know that if I’m out of a job, I can’t afford to run my super car, pay for my opulent home.
Fiscal frugality keeps the mortgage payments ticking over whilst searching for work, and when things become desperate, you still have plenty of dough to pay the bills.
I’ve read too many stories about writers going nuts and buying Ferraris and eating at lavish restaurants. Keep it under control. Keep it real.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:12 am
List of struck companies: http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2537
Strike rules: http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2493
What non-members can do: http://www.unitedhollywood.com/2007/11/can-i-come-join-pickets-if-im-not-in.html
November 5th, 2007 at 4:22 am
DVD = Digital Versatile Disk (at least, that’s what I’ve always been told in the UK)
What’s with all the straw-man pointlessness about migrant farm workers and sweatshop labourers? There’s always going to be someone worse off than you, but that fact doesn’t invalidate the cause for which the WGA are striking.
November 5th, 2007 at 5:57 am
What does that mean? The strike’s already over or even won’t begin?
November 5th, 2007 at 10:09 am
I am not in the industry and am completely unaffected by this strike. Question: why should writers get any residuals? Programmers don’t get residuals for their code. You write and you get paid. Once. I don’t think anyone should get paid again and again.
Please forgive him, he knows not what he says (or maybe hang him from the Hollywood sign). I’m a developer too and I think we SHOULD get residuals. If you design a website that has millions of hits, why shouldn’t you get a residual or if you have a component in Windows, why shouldn’t you? If you’re main job is developing, you are under $100,000 and sometimes never see your house.
Hell we developers should be right beside them. We even get crappy PCs to hit our deadlines with. Maybe that’s part of the reason why I’m trying to change jobs, there aren’t may professional unions left and I’m tired of watching CEOs get rich while I make sure the stuff (software) works.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Just a couple of comments – while I understand that bringing a film or TV show to fruition is a collaborative process, the impact of the writers’ strike on Hollywood and the virtual halt in production that it has brought about (at least in late night TV initially) itself illustrates the importance of writers to the process. Without writers, there is no content. While I’m not trying to detract from the contributions of others during the process, without a script, there would be nothing to design, nothing to scout, nothing to direct, no words to speak, etc. The AMPTP is trying to minimalize the contribution of the writer to the product by refusing to negotiate on residuals but the far-reaching impact of the strike only serves to reinforce the importance of writers and support their demands for an increased rate. Not that the AMPT will acknowledge this in any way.
Secondly, I don’t think that its fair for people to be calling the high profile writers greedy for striking to ensure the rights of the collective whole. After all, my guess is that while the top-tier writers such as John will benefit from increased residuals, his mortgage will be paid any way under the current structure. But there are thousands of others in the WGA that rely more on residuals than him to pay the mortgage/rent (and granted, will have to bear more of the burden during the strike). And for that, they should be happy that top-tier writers like John support the cause. Arguments that writers should be able to negotiate their pay based on talent are not really valid because that already happens. John doesn’t get the minimum now – he’s paid based on his talent and track record. Its the thousands of others that benefit as the minimums ensure that they are not taken advantage of.
Finally, to the people who insist on correcting grammar – I know that you get a little charge from correcting John’s grammar. But please stop. Yes, he’s a successful screenwriter but that doesn’t mean that you will now sell your screenplay and become a bigger success than him because you caught an error that he made. We all make errors. My guess is that you have too. John isn’t successful because he dots all of his i’s and crosses all of his t’s (don’t correct me here either because its not possessive) – he’s successful because he is creative and is able to write scripts that are interesting and engaging. While I’m not downplaying the role of professionalism, an error here or there is not going to make or break his career. Or yours. Find a grammar blog if you want to correct people. Besides, what would have been of Picasso if he listened to the people who said, what’s with that guy’s nose on the side of his head and why are his eyes there? (And please don’t make an argument that writing is supposed to be clear to convey a message but art is interpretive – I know that. I am just making a point that talent isn’t confined by rules such as grammar.)
November 5th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
i’m automatically in support of the strike because i am automatically on the side of labor, full stop. but i’m not technically in the industry, i make indie films via a filmmaking co-op in san francisco.
but what is both fascinating and confusing to me – is why the guilds don’t seem to recognize the early stages of death of the corporate studio system.
why fight for new deals from dinosaurs who will soon be extinct, or at least cease to exist in their current form?
if you look at the web 2.0 model which has been disseminated from silicon valley, it seems very clear that we are on the brink of total disintermediation where the corporate studios will no longer be relevant. advertisers have much more certainty of viewer impact (via clicks) when it comes to web based programming than television, and advertisers can very easily spread their advertising dollars far and wide through ad placement on hundreds of different internet channels, rather than just on the major tv networks.
i think a more forward-looking solution would be for writers to simply offer services only to companies who are willing to pay a different rate.
so for example, right now, during the strike – if i had a web-based programming production company with VC funding, advertising sponsors lined up, etc., and i was willing to pay the extra 4 cents – could i hire a WGA writer? in other words, could i create a show called “Directionless” instead of “Lost” if i met the residuals rate desired by the writers? and if so, then how does the strike help make this happen?
November 5th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I can’t believe how many tools and fools are hating about unions.
I suppose we should all work in sweatshops 7 days a week and be grateful for being allowed to keep little more than the sweat on our brows? You know what, children should too.
Maybe instead of bitching about what the writers want, you should re-examine how you’re getting screwed over at your job instead. Think about the reason you don’t have a union, and why maybe you should. Or wait until you’re unjustly fired, had your pension stolen, or health benefits taken away.
In this day and age of massive corporate greed, corruption, and scandal, we need more unions, not less. Unless you’re some prick business manager trying to take it all for himself and deny your employees living wages, pensions, and health care, and then farming out jobs to China, you don’t have much an argument against unions.
Boo-fucking-hoo, if it means management only gets a $$ bonus instead of a $$$$ bonus. They’ll always be the first to cry about how unions are ruining a business and yet pay themselves exorbitant bonuses. In case anyone hasn’t noticed, the middle class in the US is eroding, because many people aren’t being paid a living wage anymore. That’s bad for most of us and it’ll be even worse for your kids, if this continues.
I commend the WGA and the writers for not being afraid to assert their rights and demand fair compensation. Just because they’re in a highly compensated field, doesn’t mean they should be denied a reasonable share of the profits. We should all be in a position to better our working conditions and our lives.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I cant believe this is still going… A lot of you act like “they have plenty, what are they whinging about?”
If the money is there, then writers deserve their share… NBA players make insane money, but i would rather them get their share then have the fat cat owners sit back and get richer… If the moneys being made then they deserve a cut…
November 5th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
“Short-sighted asshole” is another name for union-hater.
Unfortunately, many of my generation are short-sighted assholes who can’t look at their own family trees and see the good that organized labor has done for the world.
November 5th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Hey John, here’s an opinion question for you. While I feel for the writers, there’s no doubt that Hollywood already has a spending problem, and has a lot of competition coming along from internet producers who have very little costs. Do you feel that paying the writers more will actually help Hollywood long-term, or just the writers themselves in the short-term? I fear that if the big studios can’t save costs anywhere because of things like this, they’re not going to be able to compete with the productions being created by third parties and on the internet that do not have these limitations.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
“Pencils down” doesn’t mean “Keys up” :lol:
November 6th, 2007 at 1:08 am
I’ve been reading this blog for nearly a straight hour now (this one post in particular), and have found this to be the most fascinating thing I’ve come into contact with in the last couple of months. This is the first political/economic movement that I’ve ever actually felt like I’m at least somewhat a part of.
Student Film Maker, somewhat an enthusiast of the digital medium, I totally suck at managing my website but put stuff up on their (should be something new and craptastic but with equal amounts of love put in it up tomorrow), only because of the immense love I have for doing this. Though, quite frankly, I feel I’m starting to burn out on film making a bit too much.
There are a LOT of young people finally getting into film making now that it has become available to them and I see this Strike as something every damned one of them should read. I’m going to link this blog as much as I can, to my site and to my facebook group for Future Film Makers, and to all the places I know people read whatever little I write (I’m not one for blogging much).
I shall do this because the medium of film is just one gigantic mystery- no one really knows how pay works for anyone. The most clear cut explanation of how someone in the industry has ever been paid is the Salary section of IMDB for actors. The only one of which is accurately displayed, in my opinon, is Jack Nicholson’s info on getting a #^%t load of money for the Batman film from 1989. How do writers get paid? Do you have any money to look forward to as a young, aspired child of this future industry?
Money is going to be made on the internet, a BIG load of money in a few years. The guys from Red vs. Blue, this one group I know called Westhavenbrook.com, Ashens.com and a bunch of other people who syndicate themselves through Youtube and get squat for it (or do they through links to their own work embedded in the videos themselves?) are the future of the medium. My biggest hero of film making in just last two months went from Clint Eastwood to Eisenstein, so I’m diving backwards, but let’s face it- there’s more ignorance about this industry than almost any industry out there.
So, in conclusion to this very muddled and space-consuming statement I’ve laid forth, I really just have one thing to ask:
Let’s not fire rhetoric, verbose insults or even “claims” of what you know about how this is going to “affect” the “future” for a moment. Could some people out there, who TRULY know, like John, Paula, and a few others who have made it clear that they have insight, EXPLAIN how, at the core (yes I know too many commas), this industry works ALREADY in terms of pay. Not from a good angle, or a bad angle, just from this angle: “This is how this industry works as of now.” I’m really interested in that. Sorry I can’t be more specific- it’s 3:10 in the morning (TO YUMA!) and I’ve just read through over 85 comments.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:35 am
I’ve seen the list of struck companies, but is there a list – I assume a complete list would be hard to come by – of affected projects? I’m specifically wondering about the sixth Harry Potter movie. They just started filming, so most of it is probably written, but I assume Steve Kloves is striking too.
November 6th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Folks-
I am a software developer. We write code. To my knowledge most code writers are offered no residuals. I would like to see this changed. Especially for those who are creating the web sites at which the people are downloading and watching T.V. episodes and movies! After all it is because of them the possibility of residuals in this medium exist.
Regards-
Steve Farris
November 6th, 2007 at 11:41 am
John August and the rest of the writers need to shut up, get in their range rovers, and drive back to their respective lots. These are individuals who get to sit around all day and be creative with their friends. They have one of the best jobs in Hollywood, and most of the working writers make several hundreds of thousands dollars a year. They are putting people who make eight dollars an hour as production assistants out of work so that they can get a better beach house. I have no sympathy for any of them and hope that the great majority of them who are on the picket lines end up losing their jobs, never to work again. They make more than 95% of the people in this country. A television writer on a bad show still makes over $20,000 for delivering one script. Shut up and go back to work.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:43 am
@92
Well coders don’t have a guild or union do they? (If they do, I’ve never heard of it.) It’s unlikely that large software companies will offer coders residuals unless forced to do so. They won’t be forced by one or two people at a time, those people are easily replaced. And consider, could your department be replaced by one in India, or elsewhere? If it can be replaced, even with difficulty, then having a union or strike threat isn’t very effective in any case.
Software designers do have a way to make vast amounts of money. But it requires they become entrepeneurs, take risks and either become a big company, be bought by one, or, more easily, go to work for a successful company that is handing out shares and options. Companies like Microsoft and Google have created literally hundreds, if not thousands, of coder millionaires off stock options. I’d like you to show me a similar opportunity in the writing business.
A working writer in Hollywood is a successful entrepenuer. He or she has taken huge risks, worked with no assurance of compensation and achieved success by having work paid for. But, generally, no writers contract is for long, and often it’s for a single piece of work. The writers’ residuals take the place of a start up software company’s shares or options. They are the ONLY way the writer will see future benefit from their work.
Compare the risk a writer takes with his career to someone who joined a company like Google, got a steady salary with benefits and THEN got stock options that insure a very comfortable retirement. It only takes ONE good decision or break to make your career as a coder, and to secure your future. Most writers who are entirely successful by the standards of their peers can’t say that.
This is why there is a writers guild, and why they sometimes must strike to have their demands met, as painful as it is to them and everyone in the industry.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Wolfwood: Hi, union-hater here. The reason people, I’m guessing from your tone perhaps even yourself, get “unjustly fired, ha[ve] [their] pension[s] stolen, or health benefits taken away”, is because they chose to work for someone else instead of themselves. The reason there is “massive corporate greed” is because there are massive corporations. If more people like you chose to assume risk and start their own businesses, we as consumers and society would have more choices and better working conditions.
I recognize the historical importance of unions. I recognize their value in fighting against things like the 7 day work week and child labor. I think the time of that value has passed. Unions were needed to counteract monopolies, frequently government-ordained, on the means of production. That is hardly the case when it comes to shooting The Office. The closest anyone could come to making a case here is regulation of the broadcast spectrum. This is increasingly inconsequential thanks to cable, the internet, and time-invariant distribution like DVD’s and downloads.
Will C: The same applies to the downtrodden coder, a trade I ply on the side.
“It’s unlikely that large software companies will offer coders residuals unless forced to do so.”
Simple solution: Don’t work for large software companies. The reason this is unheard of in software is because the capital barrier to entry is so preposterously low, anyone can (and will) start their own company and compete.
Much more dangerous than unions and greedy corporations, I think, is the American notion that the highest achievement for the “working class” is to work for someone else. Big corporations get big money because they assume big risk. Assume a smaller risk, and start a small business, and you might be rewarded with smaller returns.
But hey, when you’re the boss, those returns can be a lot smaller than News Corp’s and still seem pretty substantial.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Wait, this might be a dumb question, but if writers are on strike, then what will happen to tv shows, and movies?
Does that mean that unknown writers can act as scabs to get work that they normally wouldn’t because of obscurity?
November 6th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I have no problems turning off the TV for a few months.
I hope you guys get what you’re asking for!
November 6th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I am not a part of the industry, but I am a fan of television and movies. While I would like to someday be a screenwriter, that is something that is several years off. For now, I speak as a fan.
All I can tell you is this:
1) I do not watch reality tv. I have enough reality in my life. I don’t care about people living on an island, stabbing each other in the back, to try to make some money. When I watch tv, I want to be entertained. Every show I watch is an original hour-long drama.
2) I have purchased 3 tv shows on dvd: Firefly, Roswell, and Harsh Realm. I will someday get around to getting Supernatural, but that hasn’t happened yet. The reason I have bought these shows is because they were VERY well written. Without the scripts, the actors would have nothing to work with. If you want to impress me, write something clever. Sophomoric humor doesn’t work. Dry wit does. There are writers (Aaron Sorkin, Chris Carter, Joss Whedon, for example) that I will tune in to whatever they do because I know it will be great.
3) If I had known before I bought those dvds how little the writers were paid, I probably wouldn’t have done it. I have a vcr, and I can tape everything. I like having dvds because they’re easier to keep up with, and there are no commercials. But I am certainly not opposed to watching tapes over and over.
4) I have never downloaded anything. Not a tv show, not a song. I didn’t even have a computer at home until a year ago. Watching episodes online does nothing for me. I’d prefer to be comfortable on my sofa, under a blanket, perhaps. Just because a lot of people download things does not mean the rest of us will be following suit tomorrow.
5) The networks haven’t been on my good side in a long time. The only thing I watch Fox for anymore is their NFL coverage. I haven’t watched a show on Fox since they canceled Tru Calling (and Firefly and Harsh Realm and Millenium and…). NBC still has some good shows on the air, but they are just as bad about canceling shows because the “ratings” aren’t high enough (Studio 60, Kidnapped, Surface, Heist, etc.). Funny thing about ratings, I’ve NEVER been asked to be a Neilsen viewer. No one has called to ask what I watch. I own a dvr and watch shows when it’s convenient for me to do so, not when the networks tell me I have to watch them. So how come they don’t see that I recorded every episode of their canceled shows (the NBC list, for example; I didn’t have one when Fox canceled their good shows)?
6) I am a firm believer in word-of-mouth. If someone tells me something is good, I’ll check it out. Likewise, I do the same thing. I’ve gotten several friends to watch shows like Heroes and Jericho and Moonlight. I talk about these shows. That is how I show my support.
What it comes down to, for me as a consumer, is that I like to be entertained. And that all starts with the ideas of the writers. Well-written shows are hard to come by. And why the networks have considered the last few seasons failures I do not know. Some of the best shows have been written, aired 3 episodes (Heist, Kidnapped) and were removed. Or they were shown out of order (Firefly). Or they were not advertised at all (Harsh Realm).
For all of the writers on strike, you have my full support. Yes, I know the tv shows I regularly watch will soon be out of original scripts, but that is a sacrifice that has to be made for the protection of intellectual property. Too long have artists in ALL industries (music is another excellent example) been used and not paid as they should have been.
While I hope a reasonable agreement can be reached soon, I understand and support the reasons why a strike has to happen.
Good luck.
November 6th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Thanks for that simple explanation of the issues, especially regarding residuals. I had been pretty confused about the whole thing. I was wondering, though, do dvd sales and online advertising revenue count as profit? Isn’t there generally some sort of profit participation agreement?
November 7th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Adam, fortunately I do belong to a union myself (not the WGA, one day maybe) and have been fortunate enough to avoid getting exploited as the examples I have mentioned, but millions of others haven’t been so fortunate. I always try think about others and not just myself, but you almost seem to suggest it’s okay to exploit people willing to put in a honest day’s work like they’re disposable cattle or something. Is it naive to expect corporations or businesses to be fair to their employees in this day and age, perhaps, but so is the idea that everyone should start their own business as some sort of solution.
Currently, Americans rank last in vacation time taken and the U.S. is one of the very few industrialized countries where the government doesn’t regulate benefits in the private work sector. Americans work two weeks longer than the Japanese, and two months longer than the Germans.
-Vault.com http://www.vault.com/nr/printable.jsp?chid=420&articleid=3810101&print=1
Since the end of the recession of 2001, a lot of the growth in GDP per person — that is, productivity — has gone to profits, not wages. This reflects workers’ lack of bargaining power in the face of high unemployment and companies’ use of cost-cutting technology.
-Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114341649383308604-nD9yJIDaBrnnGoDZYhxAfVf7Sbg_20070326.html
While median household income in 2005 rose by 1.1 percent, the real median earnings of both men and women who worked full-time, year-round declined between 2004 and 2005 (Table 1 and Figure 3). The median earnings of men declined 1.8 percent to $41,386. The median earnings of women declined 1.3 percent to $31,858.23 This is the second consecutive year that men experienced a decline in earnings and the third consecutive year for women.
-U.S. Census, page #12 in book or page #19 in pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p60-231.pdf
And really, I could go on, from Healthcare, to Walmart, to inflation, to even Ultra-Billionaire Warren Buffet saying he’s taxed at a lesser rate than his secretaries and it isn’t right.
Bottom-line is the American worker is getting the short end of the stick in so many ways, a resurgent union presence could go a long way to help address some of these issues. None of it would be easy though and frankly, most Americans need to get more active in their government and at least get off their ass and vote. A long standing pro-business, anti-worker agenda in Washington hasn’t helped either.
And to anyone still seething at the fact that writers have the gall to strike, do you happen to think they would have the bargaining strength and working standards that exist today, without a union?
November 8th, 2007 at 4:43 am
Thanks to all who have posted here — this discussion is interesting, with an unusually high signal to noise ratio for the Internet.
As for my two cents… I write computer games, not TV shows or movies. There are a lot of similarities, however, and also a fairly important message that should maybe be communicated:
The percentage of overall cost in creating a TV show or movie that is represented by the writer’s salaries is tiny. Really, really tiny. I can’t quote details for TV and film, but in my industry it’s around maybe 1-2%. Perhaps as high as 4% for a really big writer on a really small project.
John and others can comment for Hollywood, but I would be surprised if the numbers differ greatly. Single-digit percentages are the scale of the dispute that is going on here. Relatively speaking, for the producers, it’s small, particularly since the lion’s share of revenue created falls in the producers’ pockets. That’s normal, because they take the financial risk. But currently their upside is unlimited — if something does well, and they can transfer it to other media and keep raking in the cash, they get it all. Somehow, it doesn’t seem to be unfair if the creative people that made that success happen also share in it.
The numbers are even worse for downloads. Currently, the cost of the writing represents 0%. Everything more than 0% that the writers negotiate comes out of the distributors’ margins ; given that the margins are currently probably hovering close to 100% they are loathe to put that on the table. The goose that lays the golden eggs, as it were.
Except that the damn goose has to be fed. Writers are the goose feed (and maybe that analogy isn’t bad as far as cost goes).
And remember that the MPAA (and RIAA) crap bricks — rough, chunky, jagged bricks — when the subject of P2P networks and file sharing comes up. Oh, horror. People are downloading content without paying the folks who made it. That’s evil, that is…
From my point of view, the AMPTP seems to be aiming for a business model that pretty much resembles that of the patent trolls. Get a good idea, stake a claim of ownership, and force everyone to pay that wants to use it. Except, of course, the creator. Ownership of the thing is what is remunerated, not creation of the thing. From my point of view that’s a fairly grotesque corruption of the idea that you should get paid according to the value you create.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Life is tough, eh?
“Write” it in your POS Toyota ya back stabbing LA Bastids.
A UAW member sending a big go F your selves and thanks for nothing to CaliforkU.