You might be one of those that boast they don’t watch TV or movies, but it’s the only face many in other countries see of ours. It’s also big business that affects us all in many ways, changing our culture for good or bad. And without writers to create the stories to begin with, there ain’t no shows. As a wanna-be screenwriter myself, your old Uncle Dave has been following this with interest.
So, what’s going on? With the fairly recent election of a president with a backbone, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has voted to go on strike. Why? An assortment of smaller issues, but the biggest involved the Interwebitubes. While the union reps the pros, it has implications for anyone who writes shows that end up on the web, are downloaded to iPods and other portable devices, streaming media and so on. In other words, anywhere other than theaters, TV and DVDs. It’s what’s called ‘New Media’ and the studios and networks (all owned by conglomerates who could care less about art or anything other than these divisions must make money) who employ the writers, hit hard by ever falling TV viewership and declining movie going, simply refuse to give up keeping all of this new source of revenue. Even they admit privately the writers are being shafted, but they say they can’t afford to pay them reasonably.
Here’s what they want from an article on the DeadlineHollywoodDaily blog. Needless to say the studios and networks see it differently.
What’s the biggest issue? Internet and New Media
1. Residuals for reuse of content (like replaying tv shows) on the internet. We’re asking for residuals of 2.5% of revenue — that means for every dollar they get paid, we’d get 2 and a half cents. It’s a flat percentage, so if they’re right and they’re never ever going to make a penny, well then, we won’t either.
2. Coverage and protections for original content (new stuff we create for the internet.) We’re asking for basic protections so that when we write original stuff for the internet, we have rights — health and pension, minimum amounts, credits and separated rights (so if we make some amazing character or show, we get the right to share in its success.) We’re just asking for the same protections we already have for writing in TV or film. Nothing new or weird. Just the basics.
DVDs: Currently we get .3% per dvd, we’re asking for .6%. Translation: now we get 4 cents per dvd. We are asking for 8 cents per dvd. Since most DVD’s cost at least 10 bucks, that doesn’t exactly seem like a bank-breaker.
The effects on TV shows won’t really hit until January when the networks run out of the episodes that have been shot. The expectation is they’ll toss on cheap, no-need-for-writers reality crap. Movie studios have been stockpiling scripts, so it will take longer to affect them, but if this is a long strike like the last one in 1998, they’ll hit the pile of scripts that got rejected previously.
Few in Hollywood make the big money. Most crew members and character actors make middle class wages at best and will be hard hit. The film business is LA’s 3rd largest industry, so a strike impacts thousands of restaurants, stores and business indirectly. The Teamsters (who move equipment and rep people like casting directors) have said they will honor the picket lines, effectively shutting down most productions.
Today, the writers vote on exactly when in the next few days to strike. If it lasts long, the effects will be felt worldwide.
This will be a great opportunity for independent films to get more exposure.
Lets face it most Hollywood movies are total crap anyway.
[Note: Despite the name, this isn’t John. -ed.]
I was watching The Daily Show last night and John mentioned that the show was not going to be new next week because the writers were upset. Now I know what he was talking about.
wait.. i think i’m missing the point… is this saying that the current crop of tv/hollywood people make crap on residuals and money in general? or is it they want additional residuals for any work that ends up on the net?
my dad (a retired stuntman) still gets a ton of residual checks for his 35yrs + of movies. -i dont think he gets any $$ for internet stuff, as it wasnt around during his time span in the bizz..
but if he did.. wow..
not plug him..but his time was mainly during the popular 70’s car chases and such. -anything in NYC he most likely had a hand in. east coast stunt men’s assoc. was his doing. 🙂
a small list of his work is on IMDB: (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0826952/" rel="nofollow">alex stevens)
-soundwash
Is this the same union that is being messed with because of all the reality shows that don’t require screen writers?
Thank goodness for Netflix and TV series I haven’t yet viewed. Hey, here is an idea … I could pick up a book. *gasp*
#4: Both. The formulas for DVD were created years ago when VHS was just starting and haven’t really changed since. As for the web, the studios want to pay the same amount as for DVDs even though there are no manufacturing and sales costs (DVD blank, box, shipping, etc) associated with downloaded and streamed material. It’s just space on a server that can be downloaded millions of times for the same price (but much higher profit) as DVDs. The writers just want a fair share.
#5: Yes.
The producers and screen writers are responsible for what the rest of the world thinks about the US.
The US, according to some, is hated and despised world wide.
Screen writers are going on strike?
There’s a down side?
“You might be one of those that boast they don’t watch TV or movies, but it’s the only face many in other countries see of ours.”
#8: No wonder the rest of the world hates us.
a small list of his work is on IMDB:
Actually… very cool.
Groove Tube. Heh. One of the least credited but most copied movies of the last 50 years.
#7 thanks for the input.
ques: so would this cover say, a clip of a movie/tv/ad that someone uploads to a video site like youtube? -the logistics
of tracking stuff like that would be crazy..
-also.. while i tend to understand WGA/DGA/SAG/whoever’s side. i can also see this *easily* being abused. -as altering download figures is way too easy from both the user’s end and the server side.
if enacted, i wouldn’t be surprised if the income from internet royalties and residuals started to beat *non-networked* sales
by a large margin.
that would be the only reason i would hesitate allowing it.
-thoughts?
-soundwash
#1 – Lets face it most Hollywood movies are total crap anyway.
Most of everything, including indy films, are crap. That’s just the way it guys.
#12 – Yeah but if you go to YouTube and search on “vomit”, you will discover an entire Subculture of Vomit (which would be a great band name BTW). Much of the SOV material is highly entertaining , which is the end goal.
8. The US, according to some, is hated and despised world wide.
’tis true, ’tis true…. a good portion of the planet sits down to their domino’s pizza, watching The Simpon’s with a bottle of Budweiser (and I don’t mean the proper one from Pilsen) over the tip of their Nike shoes and complain about how awful those Americans are.
I am sure there are people, mostly in tweed jackets with leather patches on the sleeve, the world over who will rejoice at less American TV and films, but the fact is, as crap as they are, people seem to watch them, just as people like their Domino’s, their Pizza Hut, KFC and the rest of it.
Most British celebrities like to go on about how much their hate the US as well…. at least up until the point when they get an American contract then they are on the first plane to Hollywood never to return to their British public (unless the American public hates them…..)
An interesting question is whether writers in other countries that are obviously not part of the WGA will be affected. Much like tech being outsourced, I’m curious if the same will start to happen (or happen to a larger degree) to writing.
Yes there are crap movies, but there are also well written movies. Writing is not nearly as easy as people think it might be even when working with a formula. Without the WGA, professional screenwriters would become a thing of the past as no studio would pay more than a pitance for work and provide no residuals. I happen to make software for the film industry and I can tell you that unless you are contracted to a show or write a blockbuster, writing is the most severe feast-or-famine profession I have encountered
I’d much rather watch reruns of Get Smart, Bewitched, Perry Mason, MASH, etc. than nearly anything being produced today. With the exception of the Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy, I don’t think I regularly watch any American television that is in current production. And note that those three are cartoons and that I only watch them in syndication (old episodes).
And I live in the heart of the beast…..Los Angeles! Other than my neighbor, a cameraman* and my brother in law who drives trucks for one of the studios* who will be out of work for a while, I really couldn’t care less.
*–Both grossly overpaid union jobs considering the skill level involved.
#5 exactly!!!! and they are always looking for ‘unknown talent’ that doesn’t have to be paid as much. (the unknown talent is not a union member)
This may be like what happens when the ‘airline mechanics’ walk out and everyone else get fired when the airline folds or moves all of their maintenance to the far east.
It should be interesting to see what happens!
#17: Yes and no. About 50,000 scripts are written each year, 95% of them pure crap, 4.5% have potential, but not good enough, and maybe .5% good enough to be made into something. Out of that, only a handful ever get made. If they do buy one from a new writer, the studios and production companies still have to abide by the union contracts which stipulate minimums that have to be paid. Once a writer has sold something, he’s eligible to become a member of the WGA. Even if a writer doesn’t become a member, there are still rules about payments and contracts. http://www.wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx?id=1027
Also, once you’ve sold something, it’s easy to get an agent who will negotiate much higher prices for your work.
The problem with this situation is that both sides have it wrong. In an unchanging world the writers would be in the right but the world is not unchanging. Both the studios and the writers can battle it out but unfortunately they are both going to lose out in the end to forces outside of their economic bubble. The situation is not comparable to other past technologies like VHS or DVDs.
Personally I think the days of ALL residuals are over. Technology just changes too fast. Any type of back end payment is doomed. The writers (and all creative people) really need to fight for more payment up front. It’s the only way to be sure you get paid for your work.
12. “Most of everything, including indy films, are crap. That’s just the way it guys.”
I just finished an indie film with some friends. It was a lot of work, three years in all. Dollar for dollar, its better than some of the big budget films out there, and no one was paid for it. And yes, its pretty much crap. But it was still fun to do.
But this strike isn’t affecting movie script writers, it’s TV shows that are being affected. The main point of their striking is they currently get little to no revenue from DVD sales and other non-traditional means. As was mentioned in the article, these mega-conglomerates of TV networks couldn’t care less about the writers, thinking that they are easily replaceable with cheaper ‘reality’ tv shows.
I hope this gets resolved soon, I have several tv shows (like The Office) which are going to be suspended without writers.
#18, Bill, “Script writers = mechanics”?
I wonder who would be more offended at the comparison.
#16 – *–Both grossly overpaid union jobs considering the skill level involved.
Since you said that about camera operation, you lose all credibility.
#21 – Don’t get me wrong… Even bad movies are more fun to watch than good football games… and even in bad movies, you sometimes get interesting performances, stories, dialog, whatever…
And even bad movies are grueling to make. I know. I’ve made a few.
Every writer tries to write a good script and every director tries to make a good movie. It just isn’t gonna happen because good is an elusive target, but you gotta love those guys who put themselves on the line to try.
Congrats on completing your film, and I hope it brings you some good fortune (even if it sucks, which I doubt) because just finishing one of these things is a victory in its own right.
—
#23 – There is a degree of truth to that. I’ve doctored a a couple of scripts. It’s not art. It is more like repairing something that broke.
#16: “Both grossly overpaid union jobs considering the skill level involved.”
Obviously, you’ve never tried to write a salable film script. As one who has tried, you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.
25. The reward was having it shown in the local theatre. The screenwriter doesnt even expect to make his money back, but the locals liked it enough to sell it out for a few nights (they even conned a US Senator from Colorado to do a small part).
*Warning* Shameless promotion ahead.
http://www.faceeatermovie.com
At the same time, negotiate a lower buyout for theaters, TV and DVD rights to pay for the interwebitube rights since one must be watched less for the other to be watched more.
RBG
#27 – WOO HOO
Okay… You did your silly Face Eater movie… Now go get New Line to bankroll a low budget Pumpkinhead 5, follow it up with a bigger budget rip off of I Know What You Did Last Summer, ride that into a prestige biopic for Fineline about Dario Argento, then drop out of sight for 5 years and return with a totally unexpected megabudget Victorian costume drama… just to zag when they thought you’d zig 🙂
Hmmm, sounds like a plan.
Considering that the least two years the cinemas have been filled with nothing but gold plated turds I say they should punish the writers and pay them even less.