The much talked about amongst entertainment makers and watchers Writer’s Strike has struck. The last time I remember such a thing happening MOONLIGHTING was already slowly fizzling out of its concentrated funny. The strike didn’t do them any favors. The only reason I cared about angry writers back then was because it disrupted the hell out of my viewing pleasures.
That was some time ago. A time when watching good TV shows was my only ambition. Sad times, indeed.
Nowadays I’ve a different interest in creator’s getting what they’re owed. Seeing that I’m working on being one of those creators of one of those shows that you’ll hate but it won’t matter cause it’ll be popular and I’ll be rich and doing blow off strippers’ bellies in my palatial Kyoto Farmhouse on the Oregon coast which will be fully stocked with Bare Knuckle on tap.
I have lists. So many lists. The year 21st century has news sources(mostly New Media: irony not ignored) spilling the beans on this century’s creative revolution. The following(some of them now under the cut) are quotes from news sources and the blogs of creators whose work I admire. If you’re interested in such things, I suggest you click on the relevant embedded links for full opinions on the matter.
Mark Evanier: At some point in those few weeks, the Producers will be out there, citing the programs and movies that are still in production, selling press stories that say, “Gee, we’re not being hurt very much.” But of course, even as they’re saying that, execs are meeting to discuss what they’ll do in two weeks or three or whenever the backlog runs out. (One thing to keep in mind is that most of the media is controlled by companies we’re striking. If some development in this story is very bad for the Producers, how fairly do we think it will be reported on a channel owned by Disney or in a magazine owned by Rupert Murdoch?)
Warren Ellis:The WGA go out on strike today. If you’re in LA, give ’em a wave if you see them on picket. Regardless of what you might think of their negotiating team and tactics, the WGA are making a stand over some things that genuinely matter.
James Gunn: The only reason for the strike – and don’t believe anything to the contrary – is that the studios have refused to pay writers (and screen actors, and directors) residuals on new media. When you download a movie from Amazon or a TV show on iTunes, the people who created that content, who devised it, wrote it, acted in it, and directed it, get exactly 0% of the profits. And the studios want it to stay that way.
Stephen Falk: After fucking you once, Big Business certainly isn’t going to suddenly grow a conscience and un-fuck you years later out of the goodness of their heart. And that’s exactly what they’re trying to do right now. Fuck us hard. Not only are they refusing to renegotiate DVDs (claiming giving us 8 cents per DVD instead of 4 would make them too sad), they’re trying to jam all “new media” like streaming and digital downloads under that same equation; they have actually refused “for overriding business reasons” to negotiate at all over new media. (Streaming video would be completely unpaid, even if it’s ad-supported because they claim all streaming video EVEN IF THEY SHOW THE EPISODE OR FEATURE FILM IN ITS ENTIRETY is “promotional”. Seriously.)
A couple of news bits were dropped on the entertainment blogs ONTD and The Superficial.
- Celebs Talk About the Writers Strike
- Hollywood writers strike as talks fail
- JULIA-LOUIS DREYFUS joins the line
- Tina Fey talks a few things on video (That insider freak manages to not ask her for any blow)
Twitter has a Writer’s Strike twitter collecting news from all over the ‘net scape.
Wonderful insights on Comics and the WGA by Bags and Boards.
Brian K. Vaughan also suggested United Hollywood for, “consistently dependable source of good information about the strike.”
- United Hollywood
- Writer’s Guild have a You Tube
- And an instructional on the basics of the strike
- An inspiring email via wannabetvwriter’s blog
And wonders continue to surprise. Ze Frank broke his silence/hiatus and said a word or two via his blog.
It’s Norma Rae up in this bitch, people. Or Chief Tyrol if that’s how you roll. Stand up and take notice.
Neil Gaiman:And yes, it impacts some of my projects. It means that the US TV network that wanted to option a book of mine to make into a TV series isn’t going to be able to buy it (or anything else of mine) until the strike is done. It means that I’m not going to be able to do the rewrites and polishes on the 1999 NEVERWHERE movie script for Hensons and the Weinstein Company until the strike is done. It means that Roger Avary and I won’t be able to rewrite or polish or work on BLACK HOLE. That I can’t discuss or sign on to (MOVIE X) until the strike’s done.
Jon Stewart: Stewart is not paying writers out of his own pocket, but through Busboy, his production company. And it’s not just writers who are getting their salaries covered but all the shows’ employees. “He’s hoping that it wraps up amicably and quickly, and over the course of that time he wants to look out for his employees,” he says.
Brian K. Vaughan: But basically, writers are looking to negotiate modest residuals and protections for use of our TV shows and movies on the internet, where most of us will likely be getting the majority of our entertainment from in the not-too-distant future.
We’re are also asking for a share of about 8 cents–that’s eight stinkin’ pennies–for every DVD of our work sold, as opposed to the criminally insane 4 cents we receive today.
I read that Warren Ellis was concerned about possibly being barred from writing for animation (which is largely outside the jurisdiction of the WGA) during the strike, and while I think his concerns were absolutely valid (the strike rules have since been amended), I believe those initial guidelines were born out of the fact that this negotiation is also about fighting to extend the same health benefits, pension, and other protections that writers like I enjoy to our equally important colleagues in animation (as well as those in “reality” television, which employs more writers than you can imagine).
